A larger augmented-reality field of view improves interaction with nearby holographic objects

Eva M Hoogendoorn; Daphne J Geerse; Jip Helsloot; Bert Coolen; John F Stins; Melvyn Roerdink

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0311804

A larger augmented-reality field of view improves interaction with nearby holographic objects

PLoS One. 2024 Oct 21;19(10):e0311804. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311804. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Eva M Hoogendoorn¹, Daphne J Geerse¹, Jip Helsloot¹, Bert Coolen¹, John F Stins¹, Melvyn Roerdink¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Abstract

Augmented-reality (AR) applications have shown potential for assisting and modulating gait in health-related fields, like AR cueing of foot-placement locations in people with Parkinson's disease. However, the size of the AR field of view (AR-FOV), which is smaller than one's own FOV, might affect interaction with nearby floor-based holographic objects. The study's primary objective was to evaluate the effect of AR-FOV size on the required head orientations for viewing and interacting with real-world and holographic floor-based objects during standstill and walking conditions. Secondary, we evaluated the effect of AR-FOV size on gait speed when interacting with real-world and holographic objects. Sixteen healthy middle-aged adults participated in two experiments wearing HoloLens 1 and 2 AR headsets that differ in AR-FOV size. To confirm participants' perceived differences in AR-FOV size, we examined the head orientations required for viewing nearby and far objects from a standstill position (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, we examined the effect of AR-FOV size on head orientations and gait speeds for negotiating 2D and 3D objects during walking. Less downward head orientation was required for looking at nearby holographic objects with HoloLens 2 than with HoloLens 1, as expected given differences in perceived AR-FOV size (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, a greater downward head orientation was observed for interacting with holographic objects compared to real-world objects, but again less so for HoloLens 2 than HoloLens 1 along the line of progression. Participants walked slightly but significantly slower when interacting with holographic objects compared to real-world objects, without any differences between the HoloLenses. To conclude, the increased size of the AR-FOV did not affect gait speed, but resulted in more real-world-like head orientations for seeing and picking up task-relevant information when interacting with floor-based holographic objects, improving the potential efficacy of AR cueing applications.

Copyright: © 2024 Hoogendoorn et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

MeSH terms

Adult
Augmented Reality*
Female
Gait / physiology
Holography* / methods
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Walking / physiology
Walking Speed / physiology

Grants and funding

This publication was funded by 1) project ‘Holocue: Assisting gait in Parkinson’s disease with intelligent mixed-reality cueing’ (with project number 19357) which is financed by the Demonstrator programme of the Dutch Research Council (NWO)(https://www.nwo.nl/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript and 2) EMIL project financial support to third parties, which is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. MR and DJG received both grants.