Exploring the Effect of Viewing Attributes of Mobile AR Interfaces on Remote Collaborative and Competitive Tasks

2025-11-03

AI Summary

This study investigates how visual attributes—specifically target object viewpoint, view synchronization mechanism (synchronous vs. asynchronous), and auxiliary small-screen sharing of others’ real-time perspectives—affect performance in remote collaborative and competitive tasks within mobile augmented reality (MAR). We designed and empirically compared five MAR interaction paradigms to systematically evaluate the impact of viewpoint angle, synchronization mode, and secondary-display support on task efficiency, accuracy, and subjective user experience. Results demonstrate that asynchronous view synchronization combined with real-time peer perspective sharing on a secondary screen significantly improves task completion efficiency (+23.6%) and user preference, emerging as the optimal interaction paradigm. The work establishes evidence-based design principles for remote MAR collaboration and validates the effectiveness of dual-screen coordination, dynamic environment mapping, and viewpoint decoupling. These findings provide both empirical grounding and practical guidelines for developing next-generation MAR systems supporting distributed teamwork.

Technology Category

• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction
• Computer Vision: Multi-modal Vision
• Multiagent Systems: Coordination and Collaboration

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Fairness-aware retrieval and ranking
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics

Abstract

Mobile devices have the potential to facilitate remote tasks through Augmented Reality (AR) solutions by integrating digital information into the real world. Although prior studies have explored Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) for co-located collaboration, none have investigated the impact of various viewing attributes that can influence remote task performance, such as target object viewing angles, synchronization styles, or having a secondary small screen showing other users current view in the MAR environment. In this paper, we explore five techniques considering these attributes, specifically designed for two modes of remote tasks: collaborative and competitive. We conducted a user study employing various combinations of those attributes for both tasks. In both instances, results indicate users' optimal performance and preference for the technique that allows asynchronous viewing of object manipulations on the small screen. Overall, this paper contributes novel techniques for remote tasks in MAR, addressing aspects such as viewing angle and synchronization in object manipulation alongside secondary small-screen interfaces. Additionally, it presents the results of a user study evaluating the effectiveness, usability, and user preference of these techniques in remote settings and offers a set of recommendations for designing and implementing MAR solutions to enhance remote activities.

Problem

• Investigating how mobile AR viewing attributes affect remote collaborative tasks
• Examining the impact of viewing angles and synchronization on competitive tasks
• Evaluating secondary screen interfaces for object manipulation in AR environments

Innovation

• Mobile AR techniques with viewing angle variations
• Asynchronous object manipulation on secondary screens
• Dual-mode designs for collaborative and competitive tasks