Development and Usability Analysis of a Mixed Reality GPS Navigation Application for the Microsoft HoloLens

摘要

Navigation in real environments is arguably one of the primary applications for the mixed reality (MR) interaction paradigm. We propose a wearable MR system based on off-the-shelf devices as an alternative to the widespread handheld-based GPS navigation paradigm. Our system uses virtual holograms placed on the terrain instead of the usual heads-up display approach where the augmentations follow the line of sight. In a user experiment, we assessed performance and usability. We monitored user attention through EEG while performing a navigation task using either the MR or the handheld interface. Results show that users deemed our solution to offer a higher visibility to both the oncoming traffic and the suggested route. EEG readings also exposed a significantly less demanding focus level for our prototype. An easiness to learn and use was also indicated for the MR system.