Do You Know What I Mean? An MR-based Collaborative Platform

The Mixed Reality (MR) technology can be used to create unique collaborative experiences. In this paper, we propose a new remote collaboration platform using MR and eye-tracking that enables a remote helper to assist a local worker in an assembly task. We present results from research exploring the effect of sharing virtual gaze and annotations cues in an MR-based projector interface for remote collaboration. The key advantage compared to other remote collaborative MR interfaces is that it projects the remote expert's eye gaze into the real worksite to improve co-presence. The prototype system was evaluated with a pilot study comparing two conditions: POINTER and ET (eye-tracker cues). We observed that the task completion performance was better in the ET condition. And that sharing gaze significantly improved the awareness of each other's focus and co-presence.