A mirror in the sky: assessment of an augmented reality method for depicting navigational information

Reiner, Adam J, Hollands, Justin G, Jamieson, Greg A and Boustila, Sabah ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6550-913X (2020) A mirror in the sky: assessment of an augmented reality method for depicting navigational information. Ergonomics, 63 (5). pp. 548-562. ISSN 0014-0139

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Abstract

We investigated the efficacy of a novel augmented reality (AR) navigation display called Mirror in the Sky (MitS). AR displays can reduce the distance between virtual imagery content and the user’s view of the environment but may have limited benefit for depicting map-based survey information. MitS presents a simulated mirror in the upper visual field, which reflects the topographic layout of the terrain in front of the user. In our experiment, 28 participants used MitS and a track-up Map in virtual reality to perform a route confirmation task, which required participants to decide whether a route could be successfully navigated. A post-trial threat location recall task examined spatial awareness. On that task, accuracy, duration, and subjective workload measures favoured the Map. However, participants with virtual reality experience made more accurate route confirmation decisions with MitS than the Map.