XR Interaction, Ergonomics, and Affordances

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XR Interaction, Ergonomics, and Affordances

XR interaction design trades immersion gains against cognitive and biomechanical costs (George, 2025).

2D versus spatial interaction

  • 2D interaction: high precision, low physical effort, mature conventions.
  • 3D interaction: stronger embodied spatial understanding, higher motor/cognitive demand.

Multimodal perception and cognition

Relevant channels:

  • visual depth cues,
  • auditory spatial cues,
  • somatosensory cues (haptic, proprioceptive, kinesthetic).

Working-memory limits and attentional constraints remain active in immersive contexts.

Technique and ergonomics

Frequent technique families: raycasting, cone/aperture pointing, sphere-casting, indirect tablet control, world-in-miniature mappings.

Ergonomic constraints include sustained arm elevation and high-amplitude repetitive motion.

Affordance consistency

Perceived affordances should match executable ones in the Norman sense of affordances and signifiers. Mismatch increases adaptation cost and action uncertainty.

A compact optimization objective:

max(immersion,task success)  subject to  min(cognitive load,physical strain).\max(\text{immersion},\text{task success})\;\text{subject to}\;\min(\text{cognitive load},\text{physical strain}).
George, C. (2025). Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction. Lecture 6: XR and Spatial Interaction.
references
  • George, Ceenu (2025). Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction. Lecture 6: XR and Spatial Interaction. george2025af