Augmented urban models: Investigating how data layout and link to the physical referent impact visual search in augmented reality

• This work explores the design of techniques to support visual search in augmented urban physical 3D model. We explore the impact of 1) the data layout around physical referents and, 2) the data-referent link. • Adopting a map-based positioning around physical referents of virtual 2D data windows, carrying data related to those physical referents, is more efficient and preferred than the traditional grid alignment. • Simply showing an ID (Permanent-ID link) next to the referent and the data window, to link the data and its referent, yields a good performance. • Adopting a layout that reduces the distance between the data window and referent performs better as long as it does not occlude the model. • Results driven by efficiency and preference considerations may diverge: according to the user’s task, the designer may prioritize different techniques. • Finally, whether considering the visual search of a window corresponding to a given building or the opposite task, the best performing conditions in one task also appropriately support the other task. Recent studies in situated augmented reality have explored interactive urban physical 3D models providing a physical anchor and context to data analysis. See-through Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) enhance these models by displaying virtual data around the buildings. However, the optimal positioning of multiple information relative to the physical referents is crucial yet has barely been explored. In this paper, we focus on arranging multiple data windows around a district model and present a design space describing the window layouts and linking techniques between the virtual data and its physical referent. We conduct three studies to evaluate these design dimensions for two fundamental visual search tasks: finding a data window for a given physical referent, and vice-versa. Our results reveal novel findings on the best combinations of window layout and link in terms of performance, mental workload and user preference. Finally, we propose a set of design guidelines for presenting situated immersive data around a physical urban model.