Usability of one handed interaction methods for hand-held projection-based augmented reality

With the advent of portable projectors (also embedded in a smart phone), projection based augmented reality (AR) will be an attractive form of AR as the augmentation is made directly in real space (instead of on the video screen). Several interaction methods for “Procam” systems, also applicable to projection based AR, have been developed, but their comparative usability has not been studied in depth. In this paper, we compare the usability of four representative interaction methods, applied to the menu selection task, for the hand-held projection based AR. The four menu selection methods studied are formed by combinations of two types of cursor control (projector cursor vs. on-device touch screen), and two types of item selection (explicit click vs. crossing). Experimental results have shown that the menu selection task was most efficient, usable and preferred when the projector cursor with the crossing widget was used. Furthermore, the task performance was not statistically different between using the dominant, non-dominant hand and even both hands.