
This reinforces the fact that holograms are real and in our world and helps bridge the gap between real and virtual. This gives feedback to the users that HoloLens and your application can see their space.
If your application uses spatial mapping, then your cursor could align and hug every surface it sees. This can convey to the user that the hologram is actionable and they can interact with it. If your experience is focused on a single hologram, your cursor should align and hug only that hologram and change shape when you look away from that hologram. Magnetically locking the cursor to an interactive element when it's close to the user can help improve confidence that user will interact with that element when they use a selection action. For example, the cursor in the Mixed Reality OS aligns to the surfaces of the user's world, creating a feeling of awareness of the world even when the user isn't looking directly at a hologram. Users will have a feeling that the system can see where they're looking, but also that the system is aware of their surroundings.
Cursors should align to and hug the surfaces in your app.Be cognizant of using shadows or highlights behind your cursor as they might obstruct content and distract from the task at hand.A small cursor with balanced opacity keeps it informative without dominating the visual hierarchy.Cursors are especially prone to color separation.Pick a color and shape that best represents the experience you're creating.A donut or torus shaped cursor works for many applications.
#Cursors how to#
For example, when scaling holograms in the Mixed Reality OS, the cursor temporarily includes arrows that instructs the user on how to move their hand to scale the hologram.
An exception to this is when using the cursor to communicate interaction instruction to the user. A cursor that points in some direction (For example, a traditional arrow cursor) might confuse the user to always look that way. Although there's no one right cursor shape, we recommend that you use a directionless shape like a torus. Holograms are what make the experience memorable and the cursor shouldn't be taking away from them. When scaling the cursor, consider applying a soft animation to it as it scales to give it an organic feeling. For example, as the user looks further away in your experience, the cursor shouldn't become too small such that it's lost. Depending on the experience you create, scaling the cursor as the user looks around is also an important consideration. The cursor should be no larger than the available targets, allowing users to easily interact with and view the content. If you would like to customize the cursor feedback behaviors and appearances, here are some design recommendations: Cursor scale In HoloLens 2, we apply the mental model of these motion controller rays and designed hand rays that originate from the palms and end in ring-shaped cursors that are consistent with finger cursors used in direct manipulation. In immersive headsets, the rays shoot out from motion controllers and end in dot cursors. Ray cursors attach to the end of far pointing rays to allow manipulation of objects that are out of hands-reach. 3: The ring is perpendicular to finger vector. The closer the finger, the smaller the ring.ġ: The ring shrinks to a dot. The ring size is based on the proximity of the finger to the UI surface, which shrinks to a small dot when the finger touches the UI. We've attached rings to the tips of both index fingers to better understand where the finger is pointing. The finger cursor is only available on the HoloLens 2 to enhance the " direct manipulation with hands" interaction mode. In the Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK), we've created drag-and-drop cursors modules to help you build the right pointing experience. Below is guidance on which type of cursor to use for each type of headset and interaction model.
These pointing cursors work with different input modalities on HoloLens, HoloLens 2, and immersive headsets. There are 3 kinds of cursors: finger, ray, and head-gaze. You can use the feedback to communicate their intention to the device, which increases user confidence. The cursor feedback also lets users know what system responses to expect. Even though the cursor is a digital representation of where the device understands the user's attention to be, that's not the same as determining the user's intentions. Cursor feedback includes what area, hologram, or point in the virtual environment responds to input. A cursor provides continuous feedback based on where the headset believes a users current focus is at a given time.