Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Computer Science and Engineering

Major Professor

Marvin Andujar, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Paul Rosen, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Sylvia Thomas, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Shaun Canavan, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Michael Boyce, Ph.D.

Keywords

Cross Reality, Design Guidelines, Extended Reality, Usability, User Experience

Abstract

Use of Extended Reality (XR) technology such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) has experienced significant growth, with continuous advances in mobile technology and head-mounted display (HMD) headset development. As applications that span more than one type of reality have started to emerge, there is a need for additional research regarding the user interfaces (UIs) developed for these multimodal systems. While some work exists towards the creation of UI design guidelines in AR and in VR, little to no work has been done in providing recommendations for designing interfaces that work successfully across multiple XR modalities. To explore this, three studies were conducted using an existing military system, the Battlespace Visualization and Interaction (BVI) architecture. Interviews were conducted with User Experience (UX) experts to gain insights into key design aspects required across modalities, resulting in a set of five initial UI design recommendations for multimodal applications that provide guidance to researchers and developers in initial stages of XR interface design. Created rapid prototypes were tested in a remote usability study using Army subject-matter experts (SMEs) to determine additional considerations to mission planning requirements and inform iterative interface designs. Implemented UIs in AR and VR modalities were tested using active duty Army soldiers to collect user interaction and usability data. Results suggest the tested UI is effective and usable for military mission planning across both VR and AR modalities, as shown by high self-reported usability metrics and mostly statistically-insignificant differences when comparing modalities.

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