On Intent Inclusivity in Spontaneous Cross Realities

As see-through Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) become more prevalent, HMD wearers will start to encounter each other, as well as non-wearers, spontaneously in real-world settings. This is a typical cross reality (CR) scenario, where users are situated at the different points of the Reality-Virtuality Continuum. This situation introduces new complexities in social interactions. The central challenge is the inherent asymmetry of CR experiences: while see-through technology allows wearers to share the same physical environment, each has their own reality — the augmented layers they perceive are unique to each individual. It is unclear how people share their virtual, augmented, or actual realities. While multi-user cross reality applications have gained prominence in literature, including studies on cross reality between handheld devices and headsets as well as bystander inclusion, most research assumes an ideal scenario where all participants intend to collaborate using the same application. This scenario may be uncommon in the future, as individuals might have diverse intents — to collaborate, observe, or even avoid interaction with other individuals. This short paper uses the open-source spontaneous collocated mixed reality game probe, Multiplayer Omnipresent Fighting Arena (MOFA), reporting in-the-wild study observations from various real-world scenarios. Our goal is to explore various intents emerging in Spontaneous Cross Reality (SCR). We aim to inspire CR researchers to examine the technical, social, and ethical implications, identify key research questions, and envision intent-inclusive futures for SCR.