Impact of Target and Tool Visualization on Depth Perception and Usability in Optical See-Through AR

Overview:

Optical see-through augmented reality (OST-AR) systems like Microsoft HoloLens 2 hold promise for arm’s distance guidance (e.g., surgery), but depth perception of the hologram and occlusion of real instruments remain challenging. We present an evaluation of how visualizing the target object with different transparencies and visualizing a tracked tool (virtual proxy vs. real tool vs. no tool tracking) affect depth perception and system usability. This work was published in ISMAR 2025 (first author) and nominated as the best poster from conference papers.

Why important?

This paper provides critical design guidelines for target and tool visualization methods in optical see-through AR.