Quantifying the differential impact of sensor noise in augmented reality gaming input

Augmented reality is an exciting new medium for game designers, enabling them to craft the latest round of innovative interactive experiences. Commoditization of both high performance smartphones, and head mounted displays have provided compact high fidelity cameras and displays, and enough computing power to put compelling augmented reality into the hands of consumers. However, significant work remains in codifying the design space, and the relative sensitivity of different modes of display and interaction on user experience. In particular, the role of sensor noise in gameplay across different displays and input techniques has not been evaluated. In this paper, we present a user study of 48 individuals playing both head mounted and magic window variants of the same game with different input techniques, under different orientation sensor noise conditions. Evaluating user experience using both game logs and standard experiential surveys, we find differential effects of the introduction of noise on different systems, and provide design recommendations based on these findings.