In this work, we evaluate two standard interaction techniques for Immersive Analytics environments: virtual hands, with actions such as grabbing and stretching, and virtual ray pointers, with actions assigned to controller buttons. We also consider a third option: seamlessly integrating both modes and allowing the user to alternate between them without explicit mode switches. Easy-to-use interaction with data visualizations in Virtual Reality enables analysts to intuitively query or filter the data, in addition to the benefit of multiple perspectives and stereoscopic 3D display. While many VR-based Immersive Analytics systems employ one of the studied interaction modes, the effect of this choice is unknown. Considering that each has different advantages, we compared the three conditions through a controlled user study in the spatio-temporal data domain. We did not find significant differences between hands and ray-casting in task performance, workload, or interactivity patterns. Yet, 60% of the participants preferred the mixed mode and benefited from it by choosing the best alternative for each low-level task. This mode significantly reduced completion times by 23% for the most demanding task, at the cost of a 5% decrease in overall success rates.

中文翻译：

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比较和合并虚拟手和虚拟射线指针的交互，以进行沉浸式分析中的数据处理

在这项工作中，我们评估了Immersive Analytics环境的两种标准交互技术：虚拟手（具有抓握和拉伸等动作）和虚拟光线指示器（已将动作分配给控制器按钮）。我们还考虑了第三个选项：无缝集成这两种模式，并允许用户在没有显式模式切换的情况下在两种模式之间进行交替。虚拟现实中易于使用的与数据可视化的交互，使分析师能够直观地查询或过滤数据，此外还具有多视角和立体3D显示的优点。尽管许多基于VR的沉浸式分析系统采用了一种已研究的交互模式，但这种选择的效果尚不清楚。考虑到每个都有不同的优势，我们通过时空数据域中的受控用户研究比较了这三个条件。在任务性能，工作量或交互模式方面，我们没有发现手和射线投射之间的显着差异。但是，仍有60％的参与者更喜欢混合模式，并通过为每个低级任务选择最佳替代方案而从中受益。对于最苛刻的任务，此模式将完成时间大大减少了23％，但总体成功率却降低了5％。