Speculative AR Reader | Jeff Wilkinson

2022

Orbital XR Text Reader

Project developed in the MGXD year 2 masters' studio, under supervision from Dr. Matt Peterson. The goal of the project was mostly self-directed, with the caveat that all students were developing extended reality (XR) reading systems.

I focused on interface and navigation - specifically how text could explore and occupy space differently, to provide a more immersive reading experience. I used an academic thesis as my primary text because readers tend to navigate them less chronologically than other texts. Being able to easily browse or skim for the parts the reader wants to find is very important.

A purple moon-like object with the title of a paper across it. The table of contents for the paper circles the moon in a Saturn-like ring.

Texts appear in orbit around a moon-like object. The title's orbit shifts to match the perspective of the user, while the contents orbit can be adjusted manually

The rings around the text-moon, which contain a table of contents, re-orient so that all section titles are visible at once.

On examining a reading, all text angles toward the reader allowing them to examine more elements easily.

The "moon" has moved further away, and the contents that orbited the moon have grown larger and now orbit a person.

Opening the text, the contents switch to instead orbit the user. I thought switching object (title vs user) might confuse the metaphor a bit but I think it’s fine. These sections are easier to scroll when around the user. There’s another reason I’ll explain in the next section.

Subsections orbit the section title, with figures appearing contextually to that subsection along a central ring.

Subsections had to orbit the central figures and title because I wanted the user to be able to preview the length and contents of subsections. I found that if the section titles and section contents orbited the same direction it got confusing – it looked like section titles corresponded to the subsections in orbit.

Subsections can be scrolled through from left to right. Text and relevant figures are illuminated based on where the user focuses.

Nothing too fancy here, but as the user scrolls through sections the text becomes illuminated. I’ve found through this project that light emission has proven pretty essential to AR reading. If the text doesn’t emit a little of its own light it becomes very hard to read. For example, all the text on non-focused subsections is white. When it’s taking on the lighting of its environment, the text just doesn’t seem to accurately reflect that light enough to be readable. Giving it its own light source solves this problem.

Shows the user scrolling to a new section, and the text illuminates accordingly.

User here has scrolled to a new subsection, where the text becomes illuminated.

A diagram in the center of the ring is being rotated.

I think the figures and diagrams are most interesting when they’re made for this medium. Ashley had one in the paper which was trying to show 3 axes moving horizontal simultaneously, which was a good opportunity to put it in 3D and see how that actually works. Making figures specifically for this medium would likely open up more possibilities.

Here the user is rotating the central diagram to gain a new perspective.

The user clicks on a citation within the subsection

Citations can be expanded into their own orbital viewer. This can be browsed in a small viewing mode or expanded to replace the current immersive text.

The citation clicked in the previous slide has expanded into an additional orbital viewer.

This remains less explored than I’d have liked. There are a lot of nuanced considerations to figure out regarding how to read or browse the contents of an in-text citation. Maybe it’s just a mini viewer unless its expanded to be the main immersive viewer.

Texts appear in orbit around a moon-like object. The title's orbit shifts to match the perspective of the user, while the contents orbit can be adjusted manually

On examining a reading, all text angles toward the reader allowing them to examine more elements easily.

Opening the text, the contents switch to instead orbit the user. I thought switching object (title vs user) might confuse the metaphor a bit but I think it’s fine. These sections are easier to scroll when around the user. There’s another reason I’ll explain in the next section.

Subsections had to orbit the central figures and title because I wanted the user to be able to preview the length and contents of subsections. I found that if the section titles and section contents orbited the same direction it got confusing – it looked like section titles corresponded to the subsections in orbit.

Nothing too fancy here, but as the user scrolls through sections the text becomes illuminated. I’ve found through this project that light emission has proven pretty essential to AR reading. If the text doesn’t emit a little of its own light it becomes very hard to read. For example, all the text on non-focused subsections is white. When it’s taking on the lighting of its environment, the text just doesn’t seem to accurately reflect that light enough to be readable. Giving it its own light source solves this problem.

User here has scrolled to a new subsection, where the text becomes illuminated.

Nothing too fancy here, but as the user scrolls through sections the text becomes illuminated. I’ve found through this project that light emission has proven pretty essential to AR reading. If the text doesn’t emit a little of its own light it becomes very hard to read. For example, all the text on non-focused subsections is white. When it’s taking on the lighting of its environment, the text just doesn’t seem to accurately reflect that light enough to be readable. Giving it its own light source solves this problem.

Early experiments and iterations

Embodied Bookmarks

This version was meant to explore how tabs and tab groups could use the bodily and spacial affordances of XR. I still really like the idea, but it didn't really fit into the schema of later iterations.

Those are my favorite of the early iterations but a ton more disorganized and chaotic versions can be found on my Vimeo. Really, so many versions of this, each with a different tiny lesson learned. That link HERE

RSVP XR Reader

This version used RSVP (or Spritz) reader tech, attempting to explore how space and dimension could be differently utilized in XR space. RSVP provided a jumping off point, but when dealing with text scan-ability was critical, and this method didn't allow for that. These text sections couldn't easily be broken apart or rearranged, so my later iterations focused more on letting the user bend the text around their own comfortable space.

Early experiments and iterations

RSVP XR Reader

Embodied Bookmarks

Orbital XR Text Reader

2022

2022

Orbital XR Text Reader

Early experiments and iterations

Embodied Bookmarks

RSVP XR Reader

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