In your hand computing: tangible interfaces for mixed reality

Abstract

In this paper, mixed reality (MR) is proposed as a new framework that supplements the definition of augmented reality (AR). MR includes the continuum transitions from real environments (RE), to AR, passing through augmented virtuality (AV) towards fully virtual environments (VE). In the context of MR and according to H. Kato et al. (2001), tangible interfaces are those in which: 1) each virtual object is registered to a (tangible) physical object; and 2) the user interacts with virtual objects by manipulating the corresponding tangible object. Tangible interfaces are described in the literature as being intuitive, since physical object manipulations are mapped to virtual object operations. Users generally require intuitive real-time interaction in MR. Having this in mind, we have come up with a series of novel sensor-less and cable-less tangible interfaces. In the present work, we add novel uses for these interfaces since they are the only physical means of user interaction that triggers the functionalities of the system.