Landing Windows Method as Soft Visual Constraints for Mid-Air Interactions

Abstract

Accurate object interaction has been a longstanding research topic for 3D mid-air interactions. In this paper, we propose an approach inspired by landing systems used in aircrafts while approaching the runway, called landing windows, to increase user accuracy in mid-air interactions. In the virtual environment, we created soft visual constraints that get smaller as the controller gets closer to the targets, called Landing Windows Method. We evaluated this method with 18 participants across three tasks in Virtual Reality (VR): virtual hand interaction, ray casting interaction, and a medical catheter insertion application, as well as a post-user study in Augmented Reality (AR). The results showed that Landing Windows Method increases user accuracy for virtual hand and ray casting interaction methods, as well as for medical catheter insertion in VR and AR. Participants also preferred the proposed method for complex tasks. We hope that our findings can be used by practitioners, developers, and researchers to improve user performance in tasks requiring accuracy.