On-demand, In-place Help for Mixed Reality Environments

In many help systems, users are either distracted with a constant barrage of help or have to stop working on the task at hand and explicitly search for help. In this paper, we propose intuitive methods to present on-demand, in-place help in mixed reality interfaces. In these interfaces, users interact with virtual objects that are superimposed on the real world by manipulating physical cards. We describe Tiles, a prototype application for designing aircraft instrument panels, from which our work on help systems grew. In Tiles, Tangible Bubble Help is used, in which users manipulate special ‘help’ cards in combination with data cards to invoke detailed help. Tangible Bubble Help may be multi-modal, taking the form of text, audio, graphics, and animations. We also present Tangible Tooltips, a lightweight technique in which users control the amount of textual help by tilting data cards to different degrees. In both cases, users can seamlessly transition between performing the main task and acquiring help.