The usability of interacting with the virtual and the real in COMRIS

COMRIS (Cohabited Mixed Reality Information spaces) is a research project that aims to create a wearable assistant that provides contex-sensitive information about interesting persons and events to conference and workshop Visitors. Virtual and augmented reality applications generally require users to switch from one reality to another or to emerge themselves into a heavyweight VR environment. In Comris the two worlds are intimately linked and extended into each other without the need to switch or emerge. In the physical world, the most tangible part of the Comris system is a small wearable and personal device "the parrot" that speaks in the user's ear and provides a few buttons to fine-tune messaging defaults to the circumstances and to respond to messages. The parrot also houses an active badge that keeps track of the whereabouts of its 'wearer' relative to beacons distributed around the conference premises. Conference visitors also have a number of information kiosks at their disposal to enter and adjust their interest profiles and to consult the conference schedule and their personal agenda. In the virtual world, agents represent and attempt to match the possible (events and persons) and the actual interests (from the interest profile) of the users. A process 'competition for attention' selects the interests on the basis of the user's context and guards the user from information overload. Interests are subsequently translated into natural language and presented to the user as spoken messages. After presenting an overview of Comris, this paper focuses on usability evaluation which deserves special attention because Cornris users remain engaged in their regular working and social relations while receiving assistance and distraction from the virtual world. The paper describes the general approach and the plans concerning usability evaluation in the Comris project and discusses the preliminary results from the first experiment.