Information Access Costs With an Augmented Reality Head-Mounted Display

Poole, Cody A.; Warden, Amelia C.; Wickens, Christopher D.; Raikwar, Aditya; Clegg, Benjamin A.; Buckman, Matthew; Ortega, Francisco R. · 2025 · Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

DOI: 10.1177/00187208251377311

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Summary

This study investigates the performance costs associated with spatially separating information sources in augmented-reality (AR) head-mounted displays (HMDs), specifically focusing on tasks requiring spatial integration. While prior research established that spatial proximity affects performance, it remained unclear how these costs manifest in AR-HMDs compared to traditional desktop displays, particularly for complex tasks demanding high working memory and visual attention. The authors aimed to quantify the information access effort (IAE) imposed by increasing lateral visual angles of separation (VAS) and determine whether head movements contribute significantly to these costs. The experiment employed a within-subjects design with 28 participants using a Microsoft HoloLens 2 AR-HMD. Participants performed a spatial integration task requiring them to locate 6-digit XY coordinates on a map and determine if the location fell within a designated red zone. The map and coordinate numbers were separated by four lateral visual angles: 16°, 32°, 64°, and 128°. The study measured response time (RT), accuracy, and head movement frequency. Data analysis involved repeated measures ANOVAs to assess the impact of separation distance on performance metrics, with outliers removed based on physiological limits and recording errors. Results indicated a significant main effect of spatial separation on response time, with RT increasing by approximately 1.6 seconds as separation grew from 16° to 128°. Specifically, RT increased linearly across greater separations, showing a 31% higher cost per degree compared to previous studies using wide-angle desktop displays. However, accuracy remained high and statistically unchanged across all separation distances (approximately 92%). Head movement frequency increased drastically once separation exceeded the device’s field of view (around 32°), stabilizing at roughly four movements per trial for separations of 64° and 128°. Crucially, head movements were only moderately correlated with response time at 32° and 128°, suggesting that the primary driver of increased RT was not the physical act of moving the head, but rather the cognitive effort required to encode and retain information in working memory during longer head movements. The findings demonstrate a task-device interaction where AR-HMDs impose greater performance penalties for spatially separated information than desktop displays, particularly for complex integration tasks. The increased response times are attributed to strategic encoding delays and potential display jitter, rather than head movement frequency alone. These results imply that while moderate spatial separation (16°–32°) is tolerable in AR-HMDs, larger separations significantly degrade performance speed without improving accuracy. Consequently, display designers must carefully evaluate task characteristics and information placement to mitigate IAE, especially in time-critical domains like military or healthcare applications where rapid decision-making is essential.

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