VUM - Understanding Requirements for a Virtual Ubiquitous Microscope.

Augmented Reality (AR) and wearable sensors offer new possibilities to expand our senses and change how we interact with the world. Sensory augmentation can be integrated into everyday activities, but controls remain a challenge for user experience. In this paper, we investigate how users can control a futuristic interface that enables in-situ magnification. We designed an interactive system to enable users to zoom in on objects up to a microscopic level and implemented a prototype using the Microsoft Hololens. In a user-study, we compared full-screen to windowed visualizations and four interaction techniques for zooming: a clicker, two types of gestures, and voice. Our results indicate that the clicker enabled users to zoom at the fastest rate and lowered cognitive load. We also found a preference for windowed views. With our work, we provide insights for future augmented vision systems.