Playing it Real: Magic Lens and Static Peephole Interfaces for Games in a Public Space

Magic lens and static peephole interfaces are used in numerous consumer mobile phone applications such as Augmented Reality browsers, games or digital map applications in a variety of contexts including public spaces. Interface performance has been evaluated for various interaction tasks involving spatial relationships in a scene. However, interface usage outside laboratory conditions has not been considered in depth in the evaluation of these interfaces.
We present findings about the usage of magic lens and static peephole interfaces for playing a find-and-select game in a public space and report on the reactions of the public audience to participants’ interactions.
Contrary to our expectations participants favored the magic lens over a static peephole interface despite tracking errors, fatigue and potentially conspicuous gestures. Most passersby did not pay attention to the participants and vice versa. A comparative laboratory experiment revealed only few differences in system usage.