Towards Context-Aware Adaptation in Extended Reality: A Design Space for XR Interfaces and an Adaptive Placement Strategy

Abstract: By converting the entire 3D space around the user into a screen, Extended Reality (XR) can ameliorate traditional displays' space limitations and facilitate the consumption of multiple pieces of information at a time. However, if designed inappropriately, these XR interfaces can overwhelm the user and complicate information access. In this work, we explored the design dimensions that can be adapted to enable suitable presentation and interaction within an XR interface. To investigate a specific use case of context-aware adaptations within our proposed design space, we concentrated on the spatial layout of the XR content and investigated non-adaptive and adaptive placement strategies. In this paper, we (1) present a comprehensive design space for XR interfaces, (2) propose Environment-referenced, an adaptive placement strategy that uses a relevant intermediary from the environment within a Hybrid Frame of Reference (FoR) for each XR object, and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of this adaptive placement strategy and a non-adaptive Body-Fixed placement strategy in four contextual scenarios varying in terms of social setting and user mobility in the environment. The performance of these placement strategies from our within-subjects user study emphasized the importance of intermediaries' relevance to the user's focus. These findings underscore the importance of context-aware interfaces, indicating that the appropriate use of an adaptive content placement strategy in a context can significantly improve task efficiency, accuracy, and usability.