Transition Techniques for Externally-Guided Multi-Scale Viewpoint Changes

Extended reality (XR) is increasingly used to help users understand complex virtual environments through multiple viewpoints across different immersion levels, positions, and scales. While numerous techniques address viewpoint transitions for self-guided exploration, many scenarios require externally-guided transitions where a system or presenter controls the user's viewpoint, leaving the user with limited spatial knowledge and control over the transition process, which can increase susceptibility to disorientation and discomfort. We present three transition techniques for externally-guided multi-scale XR viewpoint changes and evaluate them against a fade-to-black baseline in a within-subjects study (N = 20). Participants transitioned between world-in-miniature, street-level, and indoor destination views. We combined spatial recall measures, standardized questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews to assess orientation, workload, comfort, and continuity. Results showed that in our setup, techniques externalizing reference frames and the user's pose improved multi-scale spatial recall relative to a fade, while same-scale recall was insensitive to transition technique. We conclude with design implications for multi-scale XR viewpoint transitions.