Using Mobile Augmented Reality for Spatial Cognition

Soumyajit Chakraborty ¹, Yu Zhao ¹, Jeanine K. Stefanucci ², Sarah Creem-Regehr ², and Bobby Bodenheimer ^{1
1 Vanderbilt University, 2 University of Utah}

Background: With Augmented Reality (AR), people interact with virtual content displayed within the real environment. AR cues and ob- jects can be used to conduct rigorously controlled experiments to under- stand the mechanisms underlying human perception of the environment. Prior work has investigated whether the addition of AR cues to the real environment can improve people’s spatial perception when using such de- vices. Little research has assessed people’s perceptions of the environment when virtual objects are presented using a mobile AR display, such as a smartphone or tablet. Researchers can now deploy AR apps that allow them to conduct controlled studies “in the wild.” Larger sample sizes may be possible because recruitment can take place globally.
Aims: In the context of two experiments, we discuss the challenges and limitations of mobile AR for studying spatial perception.
Methods: Experiment 1 tested people’s abilities to judge whether they could pass through a virtual aperture or step over a virtual gap, an affordance judgment study. Experiment 2 evaluated how social cues affected egocentric distance judgments of a standing or coughing, masked or non-masked virtual human avatar, a distance estimation study.
Results: Results show conservative judgments for both actions, but increased accuracy after training with AR cues in Experiment 1. In Ex- periment 2, distance estimates were accurate with no effects of mask or coughing.
Conclusions: These studies suggest that mobile AR displays can be used to reliably assess spatial perception. Widespread adoption of these apps for research on spatial perception present an opportunity for researchers going forward.

Presented this paper at ICSC 2021. Here is the link of the paper. The talk can be found below.