Uploaded October 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Reflective optical combiners like beam splitters and two way mirrors are used in AR to overlap digital contents on the usersí hands or bodies. Augmentations are usually unidirectional, either reflecting virtual contents on the userís body (Situated Augmented Reality) or augmenting userís reflections with digital contents (AR mirrors). But many other novel possibilities remain unexplored. For example, user’s hands, reflected inside a museum AR cabinet, can allow visitors to interact with the artifacts exhibited. Projecting on the user’s hands as their reflection cuts through the objects can be used to reveal objects’ internals. Augmentations from both sides are blended by the combiner, so they are consistently seen by any number of users, independently of their location or, even, the side of the combiner through which they are looking. This paper explores the potential of optical combiners to merge the space in front and behind them. We present this design space, identify novel augmentations/interaction opportunities and explore the design space using three prototypes.
Reference:
‘Through the combining glass’, Diego Martinez Plasencia, Florent Berthaut, Abhijit Karnik, Sriram Subramanian, Proceedings of ACM UIST 201427th ACM User Interface Software and Technology Symposium.
Website - big.cs.bris.ac.uk
Facebook - facebook.com/BristolIG
Reflective optical combiners like beam splitters and two way mirrors are used in AR to overlap digital contents on the usersí hands or bodies. Augmentations are usually unidirectional, either reflecting virtual contents on the userís body (Situated Augmented Reality) or augmenting userís reflections with digital contents (AR mirrors). But many other novel possibilities remain unexplored. For example, user’s hands, reflected inside a museum AR cabinet, can allow visitors to interact with the artifacts exhibited. Projecting on the user’s hands as their reflection cuts through the objects can be used to reveal objects’ internals. Augmentations from both sides are blended by the combiner, so they are consistently seen by any number of users, independently of their location or, even, the side of the combiner through which they are looking. This paper explores the potential of optical combiners to merge the space in front and behind them. We present this design space, identify novel augmentations/interaction opportunities and explore the design space using three prototypes.
Reference:
‘Through the combining glass’, Diego Martinez Plasencia, Florent Berthaut, Abhijit Karnik, Sriram Subramanian, Proceedings of ACM UIST 201427th ACM User Interface Software and Technology Symposium.
Website - big.cs.bris.ac.uk
Facebook - facebook.com/BristolIG
