The Intuitiveness of Gesture Control with a Mixed Reality Device

Abstract

Mixed reality is a new technology that requires users to control a head-mounted device via gestures with their hands. Users of these devices must learn and remember a new way of interacting. It has been shown that creating gestures that resemble movements used to operate touch screens can help with this new transfer. This study investigates how well people learn to use the out-of-the-box gestures for a mixed reality headset, Microsoft HoloLens, after interacting with it for a very short period of time. Performance with the gestures was measured with novices before and after approximately five minutes of practice game play. Participants showed a significant improvement on the gestures to open and position windows and reported them to be easier to do after the short practice. This information could help to create apps or tutorials that help teach these gestures, as well as identifying which gestures are more intuitive to users.