Order Up! Multimodal Interaction Techniques for Notifications in Augmented Reality

As augmented reality (AR) headsets become increasingly integrated into professional and social settings, a critical challenge emerges: how can users effectively manage and interact with the frequent notifications they receive? With adults receiving nearly 200 notifications daily on their smartphones, which serve as primary computing devices for many, translating this interaction to AR systems is paramount. Unlike traditional devices, AR systems augment the physical world, requiring interaction techniques that blend seamlessly with real-world behaviors. This study explores the complexities of multimodal interaction with notifications in AR. We investigated user preferences, usability, workload, and performance during a virtual cooking task, where participants managed customer orders while interacting with notifications. Various interaction techniques were tested: Point and Pinch, Gaze and Pinch, Point and Voice, Gaze and Voice, and Touch. Our findings reveal significant impacts on workload, performance, and usability based on the interaction method used. We identify key issues in multimodal interaction and offer guidance for optimizing these techniques in AR environments.