Evaluating Physical/Virtual Occlusion Management Techniques For Horizontal Displays

We evaluate unguided and guided visual search performance for a set of techniques that mitigate occlusion between physical and virtual objects on a tabletop display. The techniques are derived from a general model of hybrid physical/virtual occlusion, and take increasingly drastic measures to make the user aware of, identify, and access hidden objects-but with increasingly space-consuming and disruptive impact on the display. Performance is different depending on the visual display, suggesting a tradeoff between management strength and visual space deformation.