Symmetric Model of Remote Collaborative MR Using Tangible Replicas

Research into collaborative mixed reality (MR) or augmented reality has recently been active. Previous studies showed that MR was preferred for collocated collaboration while immersive virtual reality was preferred for remote collaboration. The main reason for this preference is that the physical object in remote space cannot be handled directly. However, MR using tangible objects is still attractive for remote collaborative systems, because MR enables seamless interaction with real objects enhanced by virtual information with the sense of touch. Here we introduce "tangible replicas"(dual objects that have the same shape, size, and surface), and propose a symmetrical model for remote collaborative MR. The result of experiments shows that pointing and drawing functions on the tangible replica work well despite limited shared information.