Mixing realities for sketch retrieval in Virtual Reality

TL;DR

This paper explores how different sketching methods in VR affect model retrieval, finding that 3D mid-air sketching is more intuitive despite physical device complexities, aiding virtual environment design.

Contribution

It introduces and compares multiple sketch interaction techniques for 3D model retrieval in VR, highlighting the effectiveness of 3D mid-air sketching.

Findings

3D mid-air sketching is most intuitive for model search

Physical devices can cause confusion in VR sketching

Results applicable to various sketching tasks in virtual environments

Abstract

Drawing tools for Virtual Reality (VR) enable users to model 3D designs from within the virtual environment itself. These tools employ sketching and sculpting techniques known from desktop-based interfaces and apply them to hand-based controller interaction. While these techniques allow for mid-air sketching of basic shapes, it remains difficult for users to create detailed and comprehensive 3D models. In our work, we focus on supporting the user in designing the virtual environment around them by enhancing sketch-based interfaces with a supporting system for interactive model retrieval. Through sketching, an immersed user can query a database containing detailed 3D models and replace them into the virtual environment. To understand supportive sketching within a virtual environment, we compare different methods of sketch interaction, i.e., 3D mid-air sketching, 2D sketching on a virtual tablet, 2D sketching on a fixed virtual whiteboard, and 2D sketching on a real tablet. %using a 2D physical tablet, a 2D virtual tablet, a 2D virtual whiteboard, and 3D mid-air sketching. Our results show that 3D mid-air sketching is considered to be a more intuitive method to search a collection of models while the addition of physical devices creates confusion due to the complications of their inclusion within a virtual environment. While we pose our work as a retrieval problem for 3D models of chairs, our results can be extrapolated to other sketching tasks for virtual environments.