Designing for Mixed Reality

Designing for Mixed Reality

by Kharis O'Connell
Released September 2016
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781491962381

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Today’s interaction designers generally operate within well-researched and documented constraints for both web and mobile applications—but not for much longer. By mixing the real and virtual worlds, new products such as Hololens, DAQRI, Meta, and Magic Leap clearly demonstrate that designers no longer have to confine user interfaces to a screen.

In this O’Reilly report, author Kharis O’Connell guides you through the new realm of mixed reality. You’ll discover the difference between designing for arenas rather than web or mobile screen rectangles, and examine some of the supporting tools, technologies, and techniques that will enable you to make the transition.

  • Display information by understanding the limitations and differences between a "light-field" and an LCD screen
  • Explore concepts for transitioning from a 2D to a 3D mindset
  • Examine different input methods and technologies, from touch to hearing to speaking
  • Understand how tomorrow’s designers will need to manifest information at the right time in the right place
  • Learn which industries will benefit from these new tools, and what new industries could emerge

Table of contents

  1. 1. What Exactly Is “Mixed Reality”?
    1. The History of the Future of Computing
      1. Virtual Reality
      2. Augmented Reality
      3. Mixed Reality
    2. Pop Culture Attempts at Future Interfaces
    3. What Kinds of End-Use-Cases Are Best Suited for MR?
      1. Architecture
      2. Training
      3. Healthcare
      4. Education
  2. 2. What Are the End-User Benefits of Mixing the Virtual with the Real?
    1. The Age of Truly Contextual Information and Interpreting Space as a Medium
    2. The Physical Disappearance of Computers as We Know Them
    3. The Rise of Body-Worn Computing
    4. The Impact on the Web
  3. 3. How Is Designing for Mixed Reality Different from Other Platforms?
    1. The Inputs: Touch, Voice, Tangible Interactions
    2. The Outputs: Screens, Targets, Context
      1. The Differing Types of Display Technologies
    3. Implications of Using Optical See-Through Displays
  4. 4. Examples of Approaches to Date
    1. Not All Gestures Are Created Equal
    2. Eye Tracking: A Tricky Approach to the Inference of Gaze-Detection
    3. Of Light Fields and Prismatics
    4. Computer Vision: Using the Technologies That Can “Rank and File” an Environment
      1. Seeing Spaces
      2. The All-Seeing Eye
  5. 5. Future Fictions Around the Principles of Interaction
    1. Frameworks for Guidance: Space, Motion, Flow
    2. How to Mockup the Future: Effective Prototyping
    3. Less Boxes and Arrows, More Infoblobs and Contextual Lassos
      1. The Interaction Plane
      2. The Mid Zone
      3. The Legibility Horizon
    4. PowerPoint and Keynote Are Your Friends!
    5. Using Processing for UI Mockups
    6. Building Actual MR Experiences
      1. A Glimmer of Hope
      2. Transition Paths for the Design Flows of Today
    7. The Usability Standards and Metrics for Tomorrow
  6. 6. Where Are the High-Value Areas of Investigation?
    1. The Speculative Landscape for MR Adoption
      1. Health Care
      2. Design/Architecture
      3. Logistics
      4. Manufacturing
      5. Military
      6. Services
      7. Aerospace
      8. Automotive
      9. Education
      10. The Elephant in the Room: Gaming
    2. Emergent Futures: What Kinds of Business Could Grow Alongside Mixed Reality?
      1. Humans-as-a-Service
      2. Data Services
      3. Artificial Intelligence
      4. Fantastic Voyages
  7. 7. The Near-Future Impact on Society
    1. The Near-Future Impact of Mixed Reality

Product information

  • Title: Designing for Mixed Reality
  • Author(s): Kharis O'Connell
  • Release date: September 2016
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781491962381