Designing Spatial UI as a Solution of the Narrow FOV of Microsoft HoloLens: Prototype of Virtual Museum Guide

Abstract

Since the Augmented Reality (AR) headset 'Microsoft HoloLens' released in 2016, the academic and the industrial community witnessed an obvious transformation and changes in the perception of AR applications. Despite this breakthrough, most of the HoloLens users have explicitly reported the narrow field of view (FOV) that crops the virtual augmentation from the viewer's sight to a small window of 34 degrees (Bimber & Bruns). This limitation can result in losing premade functions and visuals in the AR application. Therefore, this study introduced attempts to design a spatial UI representing a way around the narrow FOV that HoloLens suffers from. The UI was a crucial part of AR museum system which was evaluated by 9 experts in HCI, visual communication and museum engaging studies. Results showed a positive feedback on the usability of the system and users' experience. This method can help HoloLens developers to extend their applications' functionalities with avoiding missing content.

Exploring the value of augmented reality for tourism

“…However, despite initial traction, because of limitations such as uncomfortable and bulky hardware, Google Glass development stopped (tom Dieck et al, 2016). Therefore, more recent use cases explore the opportunities of intuitive devices such as Microsoft Hololens (Hammady & Ma, 2019). Microsoft Hololens are classified as Augmented Reality Smart Glasses (ARSG) because they integrate virtual information into user's direct field of vision through a glass-like device (Kalantari & Rauschnabel, 2018).…”

“…Having a realistic integration of 3D information blended into the real environment, users are able to interact with the device through hand gestures, gaze and voice commands. Mobile AR enables users to interact with virtual content, using the same interactions they would with a tangible object (Kipper & Rampolla, 2012), thus encouraging different interactions and revolutionising access to information allowing the world to become the user-interface (Hammady & Ma, 2019).…”

Affectual Dramaturgy for Augmented Reality Immersive Heritage Performance

“…Mason (2016) and Tom Dieck (2014; used early prototype headsets to study user interaction through AR headsets in a cultural context, mapping requirements and offering recommendations based on the use of prototype experiences in cultural places. Hammady (2019) holistic view of the experience without focusing only on simple superimposition of the virtual material but considering how to work with this material in ways that make up an engaging encounter with the past. The desired outcome is that when visitors leave, they have not only looked at fragments of the place's history but also walked through the memories of the place.…”

A Review of Augmented Reality Applications for History Education and Heritage Visualisation

“…Usability of augmented reality devices for museums and cultural heritage sites is another area that also must be considered, as the effectiveness of the technology will be impeded if the visitor is unable to reliably control the system. Hammady and Ma [28] researched this in their study on the creation of a virtual museum guide, specifically within the context of using the Microsoft HoloLens as their hardware. The purpose of this study was to build and test an augmented reality application on a small group of nine users to determine how they were able to use the system along with how comfortable it was.…”