Survey of Annotations in Extended Reality Systems

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Immersive Technologies
• Information Science

Background:

• Annotation in 3D user interfaces like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) is a critical but under-surveyed research area.
• Existing literature lacks a consolidated overview of annotation techniques and applications within Extended Reality (XR) environments.
• The increasing prevalence of XR necessitates a structured review of annotation methodologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a structured literature review and provide a comprehensive survey of annotation in Extended Reality (XR) systems.
• To classify XR annotation papers based on key characteristics including display technologies, input devices, and collaboration types.
• To create a searchable database of XR annotation research for researchers and practitioners.

Main Methods:

• A structured literature review was performed on XR publications focusing on annotation between 2001 and 2021.
• Papers were filtered through several stages, resulting in a final selection of 103 relevant publications.
• Publications were systematically classified according to display technologies, input devices, annotation types, target objects, collaboration, modalities, and collaborative technologies.

Main Results:

• A total of 103 XR publications featuring annotation were identified and analyzed.
• A detailed classification scheme was developed, categorizing papers by display technologies, input devices, annotation types, collaboration, and more.
• A comprehensive database was compiled, including information on applications, interaction techniques, and tasks for each reviewed paper.

Conclusions:

• This survey provides an invaluable resource for researchers and newcomers interested in annotation within XR environments.
• The developed database offers rapid access to curated data, enabling efficient searching and filtering of XR annotation research.
• This work serves as a foundational starting point for future investigations into annotation technologies and applications in XR.