Exploring Cross-Reality Transitions between Projections and Head-Mounted Displays for Immersive Digital Art

Immersive exhibitions increasingly combine large-scale projection displays and mixed reality (MR) head-mounted displays (HMDs), yet their integration into a coherent experience remains underexplored, particularly in terms of how users perceive transitions across heterogeneous visualization environments. This paper investigates cross-reality (CR) object- and scene-level transitions between projection and an MR HMD through a hybrid immersive art installation spanning projection, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). In a within-subjects study (N = 24), we compared a calibrated condition with a bundled inconsistency condition that introduced noticeable cross-display inconsistencies in spatial alignment, visual appearance, and cross-device latency. Rather than using this contrast to establish perceptual thresholds, acceptable error bounds, or hardware targets, we used it as a controlled diagnostic probe to make transition-relevant disruptions more perceptible and discussable. Quantitative results confirmed that the manipulation produced a clear experiential contrast, with lower presence and higher workload under inconsistency. Interviews further revealed that different cues shaped experience through different mechanisms: spatial misalignment disrupted action-outcome predictability during precision interaction, appearance mismatch affected aesthetic coherence, and latency reduced perceived responsiveness. These effects also varied across asset types, with rigid static assets exposing inconsistencies more clearly, animated skeletal assets shifting attention toward motion impression, and particle effects often masking small discrepancies. These findings provide empirical insight into how users perceive projection-MR transitions and inform asset-aware design strategies for coherent hybrid immersive art experiences. We also release the core system as an open-source Unreal Engine plugin, HUICRSync, to support future research and prototyping of projection-MR CR experiences.