AR as a User Interface for The Internet of Things - Comparing Three Interaction Models

It is estimated that the number of devices connected to the Internet will be 50 billion by 2020. How should a not-so-tech-savvy end-user be able to discover, configure, and directly interact with a myriad of connected things in an intuitive and comfortable manner? Even if smartphones and wearables have shown potential for managing IoT environments, we cannot rely on that they can be used for all future IoT interaction. Many observers believe that augmented reality (AR) technology may constitute a suitable solution for IoT interaction. The purpose of this paper was to compare three basic AR interaction models, with a focus on the aspects of discovering and selecting devices, implemented for Microsoft HoloLens. An experimental study with 20 participants was conducted. They were split into two groups; one with low device density and one with high device density. Each group had to solve the same task using each of the three interaction models. The results showed that with few devices to handle, the participants' interactions did not differ significantly. However, with many devices to engage with, the so-called world in miniature model stood out as especially demanding and time-consuming. There was also high variability in which model that was preferred by the participants, possibly implying that a combination of the three proposed models is desired in a fully developed AR system for managing IoT devices.