How Does Mixed Reality Affect Quiet Stance?

Abstract

Mixed reality (MR) has promise for learning, design, and entertainment, and for use during everyday life. However, when interacting with objects in mixed reality, will moving objects make us fall or perturb our postural stability? To address this question, we recruited participants, instructed them to stand quietly, and measured how much virtual objects presented in mixed reality (Microsoft HoloLens) affected their stance. We analyzed the effects of solid object and text, in both a static and a dynamic setting. Mixed reality events induced some movements, but the effect, while significant, was exceptionally small (< 1mm & < 0.5{degrees} perturbations in terms of mean distance and angle rotations). We conclude that induced movement in \"real reality\" should not be too much of a concern when designing mixed reality applications.