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Multi-matrix invariants, and in particular the scalar multi-trace operators of $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM with $U(N)$ gauge symmetry, can be described using permutation centraliser algebras (PCA), which are generalisations of the symmetric group algebras and independent of $N$. Free-field two-point functions define an $N$-dependent inner product on the PCA, and bases of operators have been constructed which are orthogonal at finite $N$. Two such bases are well-known, the restricted Schur and covariant bases, and both definitions involve representation-theoretic quantities such as Young diagram labels, multiplicity labels, branching and Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for symmetric groups. The explicit computation of these coefficients grows rapidly in complexity as the operator length increases. We develop a new method for explicitly constructing all the operators with specified Young diagram labels, based on an $N$-independent integer eigensystem formulated in the PCA. The eigensystem construction naturally leads to orthogonal basis elements which are integer linear combinations of the multi-trace operators, and the $N$-dependence of their norms are simple known dimension factors. We provide examples and give computer codes in SageMath which efficiently implement the construction for operators of classical dimension up to 14. While the restricted Schur basis relies on the Artin-Wedderburn decomposition of symmetric group algebras, the covariant basis relies on a variant which we refer to as the Kronecker decomposition. Analogous decompositions exist for any finite group algebra and the eigenvalue construction of integer orthogonal bases extends to the group algebra of any finite group with rational characters., Comment: 36 pages + appendices

This paper introduces text-to-shape-display, a novel approach to generating dynamic shape changes in pin-based shape displays through natural language commands. By leveraging large language models (LLMs) and AI-chaining, our approach allows users to author shape-changing behaviors on demand through text prompts without programming. We describe the foundational aspects necessary for such a system, including the identification of key generative elements (primitive, animation, and interaction) and design requirements to enhance user interaction, based on formative exploration and iterative design processes. Based on these insights, we develop SHAPE-IT, an LLM-based authoring tool for a 24 x 24 shape display, which translates the user's textual command into executable code and allows for quick exploration through a web-based control interface. We evaluate the effectiveness of SHAPE-IT in two ways: 1) performance evaluation and 2) user evaluation (N= 10). The study conclusions highlight the ability to facilitate rapid ideation of a wide range of shape-changing behaviors with AI. However, the findings also expose accuracy-related challenges and limitations, prompting further exploration into refining the framework for leveraging AI to better suit the unique requirements of shape-changing systems., Comment: Accepted for ACM UIST 2024

This paper introduces holographic cross-device interaction, a new class of remote cross-device interactions between local physical devices and holographically rendered remote devices. Cross-device interactions have enabled a rich set of interactions with device ecologies. Most existing research focuses on co-located settings (meaning when users and devices are in the same physical space) to achieve these rich interactions and affordances. In contrast, holographic cross-device interaction allows remote interactions between devices at distant locations by providing a rich visual affordance through real-time holographic rendering of the device's motion, content, and interactions on mixed reality head-mounted displays. This maintains the advantages of having a physical device, such as precise input through touch and pen interaction. Through holographic rendering, not only can remote devices interact as if they are co-located, but they can also be virtually augmented to further enrich interactions, going beyond what is possible with existing cross-device systems. To demonstrate this concept, we developed HoloDevice, a prototype system for holographic cross-device interaction using the Microsoft Hololens 2 augmented reality headset. Our contribution is threefold. First, we introduce the concept of holographic cross-device interaction. Second, we present a design space containing three unique benefits, which include: (1) spatial visualization of interaction and motion, (2) rich visual affordances for intermediate transition, and (3) dynamic and fluid configuration. Last we discuss a set of implementation demonstrations and use-case scenarios that further explore the space.

Large Language Models (LLMs) are gaining popularity as tools for reading and summarization aids. However, little is known about their potential benefits when integrated with mixed reality (MR) interfaces to support everyday reading assistants. We developed RealitySummary, an MR reading assistant that seamlessly integrates LLMs with always-on camera access, OCR-based text extraction, and augmented spatial and visual responses in MR interfaces. Developed iteratively, RealitySummary evolved across three versions, each shaped by user feedback and reflective analysis: 1) a preliminary user study to understand user perceptions (N=12), 2) an in-the-wild deployment to explore real-world usage (N=11), and 3) a diary study to capture insights from real-world work contexts (N=5). Our findings highlight the unique advantages of combining AI and MR, including an always-on implicit assistant, minimal context switching, and spatial affordances, demonstrating significant potential for future LLM-MR interfaces beyond traditional screen-based interactions.

We introduce Augmented Physics, a machine learning-integrated authoring tool designed for creating embedded interactive physics simulations from static textbook diagrams. Leveraging recent advancements in computer vision, such as Segment Anything and Multi-modal LLMs, our web-based system enables users to semi-automatically extract diagrams from physics textbooks and generate interactive simulations based on the extracted content. These interactive diagrams are seamlessly integrated into scanned textbook pages, facilitating interactive and personalized learning experiences across various physics concepts, such as optics, circuits, and kinematics. Drawing from an elicitation study with seven physics instructors, we explore four key augmentation strategies: 1) augmented experiments, 2) animated diagrams, 3) bi-directional binding, and 4) parameter visualization. We evaluate our system through technical evaluation, a usability study (N=12), and expert interviews (N=12). Study findings suggest that our system can facilitate more engaging and personalized learning experiences in physics education., Comment: UIST 2024

This paper introduces Video2MR, a mixed reality system that automatically generates 3D sports and exercise instructions from 2D videos. Mixed reality instructions have great potential for physical training, but existing works require substantial time and cost to create these 3D experiences. Video2MR overcomes this limitation by transforming arbitrary instructional videos available online into MR 3D avatars with AI-enabled motion capture (DeepMotion). Then, it automatically enhances the avatar motion through the following augmentation techniques: 1) contrasting and highlighting differences between the user and avatar postures, 2) visualizing key trajectories and movements of specific body parts, 3) manipulation of time and speed using body motion, and 4) spatially repositioning avatars for different perspectives. Developed on Hololens 2 and Azure Kinect, we showcase various use cases, including yoga, dancing, soccer, tennis, and other physical exercises. The study results confirm that Video2MR provides more engaging and playful learning experiences, compared to existing 2D video instructions.

This paper introduces the concept of augmented conversation, which aims to support co-located in-person conversations via embedded speech-driven on-the-fly referencing in augmented reality (AR). Today computing technologies like smartphones allow quick access to a variety of references during the conversation. However, these tools often create distractions, reducing eye contact and forcing users to focus their attention on phone screens and manually enter keywords to access relevant information. In contrast, AR-based on-the-fly referencing provides relevant visual references in real-time, based on keywords extracted automatically from the spoken conversation. By embedding these visual references in AR around the conversation partner, augmented conversation reduces distraction and friction, allowing users to maintain eye contact and supporting more natural social interactions. To demonstrate this concept, we developed \system, a Hololens-based interface that leverages real-time speech recognition, natural language processing and gaze-based interactions for on-the-fly embedded visual referencing. In this paper, we explore the design space of visual referencing for conversations, and describe our our implementation -- building on seven design guidelines identified through a user-centered design process. An initial user study confirms that our system decreases distraction and friction in conversations compared to smartphone searches, while providing highly useful and relevant information.

This paper introduces RealityEffects, a desktop authoring interface designed for editing and augmenting 3D volumetric videos with object-centric annotations and visual effects. RealityEffects enhances volumetric capture by introducing a novel method for augmenting captured physical motion with embedded, responsive visual effects, referred to as object-centric augmentation. In RealityEffects, users can interactively attach various visual effects to physical objects within the captured 3D scene, enabling these effects to dynamically move and animate in sync with the corresponding physical motion and body movements. The primary contribution of this paper is the development of a taxonomy for such object-centric augmentations, which includes annotated labels, highlighted objects, ghost effects, and trajectory visualization. This taxonomy is informed by an analysis of 120 edited videos featuring object-centric visual effects. The findings from our user study confirm that our direct manipulation techniques lower the barriers to editing and annotating volumetric captures, thereby enhancing interactive and engaging viewing experiences of 3D volumetric videos., Comment: DIS 2024

Generative AI (GenAI) has shown remarkable capabilities in generating diverse and realistic content across different formats like images, videos, and text. In Generative AI, human involvement is essential, thus HCI literature has investigated how to effectively create collaborations between humans and GenAI systems. However, the current literature lacks a comprehensive framework to better understand Human-GenAI Interactions, as the holistic aspects of human-centered GenAI systems are rarely analyzed systematically. In this paper, we present a survey of 291 papers, providing a novel taxonomy and analysis of Human-GenAI Interactions from both human and Gen-AI perspectives. The dimensions of design space include 1) Purposes of Using Generative AI, 2) Feedback from Models to Users, 3) Control from Users to Models, 4) Levels of Engagement, 5) Application Domains, and 6) Evaluation Strategies. Our work is also timely at the current development stage of GenAI, where the Human-GenAI interaction design is of paramount importance. We also highlight challenges and opportunities to guide the design of Gen-AI systems and interactions towards the future design of human-centered Generative AI applications.

In a recent letter we presented the equations which describe tensionless limit of the excited-state spectrum for strings on $AdS_3\times S^3\times T^4$ supported by Ramond-Ramond flux, and their numerical solution. In this paper, we give a detailed account of the derivation of these equations from the mirror TBA equations proposed by Frolov and Sfondrini, discussing the contour-deformation trick which we used to obtain excited-state equations and the tensionless limit. We also comment at length on the algorithm for the numerical solution of the equations in the tensionless limit, and present a number of explicit numerical results, as well as comment on their interpretation., Comment: 82 pages, many figures and tables

This paper introduces HoloBots, a mixed reality remote collaboration system that augments holographic telepresence with synchronized mobile robots. Beyond existing mixed reality telepresence, HoloBots lets remote users not only be visually and spatially present, but also physically engage with local users and their environment. HoloBots allows the users to touch, grasp, manipulate, and interact with the remote physical environment as if they were co-located in the same shared space. We achieve this by synchronizing holographic user motion (Hololens 2 and Azure Kinect) with tabletop mobile robots (Sony Toio). Beyond the existing physical telepresence, HoloBots contributes to an exploration of broader design space, such as object actuation, virtual hand physicalization, world-in-miniature exploration, shared tangible interfaces, embodied guidance, and haptic communication. We evaluate our system with twelve participants by comparing it with hologram-only and robot-only conditions. Both quantitative and qualitative results confirm that our system significantly enhances the level of co-presence and shared experience, compared to the other conditions., Comment: UIST 2023

We introduce RealityCanvas, a mobile AR sketching tool that can easily augment real-world physical motion with responsive hand-drawn animation. Recent research in AR sketching tools has enabled users to not only embed static drawings into the real world but also dynamically animate them with physical motion. However, existing tools often lack the flexibility and expressiveness of possible animations, as they primarily support simple line-based geometry. To address this limitation, we explore both expressive and improvisational AR sketched animation by introducing a set of responsive scribble animation techniques that can be directly embedded through sketching interactions: 1) object binding, 2) flip-book animation, 3) action trigger, 4) particle effects, 5) motion trajectory, and 6) contour highlight. These six animation effects were derived from the analysis of 172 existing video-edited scribble animations. We showcase these techniques through various applications, such as video creation, augmented education, storytelling, and AR prototyping. The results of our user study and expert interviews confirm that our tool can lower the barrier to creating AR-based sketched animation, while allowing creative, expressive, and improvisational AR sketching experiences., Comment: UIST 2023

We introduce Augmented Math, a machine learning-based approach to authoring AR explorable explanations by augmenting static math textbooks without programming. To augment a static document, our system first extracts mathematical formulas and figures from a given document using optical character recognition (OCR) and computer vision. By binding and manipulating these extracted contents, the user can see the interactive animation overlaid onto the document through mobile AR interfaces. This empowers non-technical users, such as teachers or students, to transform existing math textbooks and handouts into on-demand and personalized explorable explanations. To design our system, we first analyzed existing explorable math explanations to identify common design strategies. Based on the findings, we developed a set of augmentation techniques that can be automatically generated based on the extracted content, which are 1) dynamic values, 2) interactive figures, 3) relationship highlights, 4) concrete examples, and 5) step-by-step hints. To evaluate our system, we conduct two user studies: preliminary user testing and expert interviews. The study results confirm that our system allows more engaging experiences for learning math concepts., Comment: UIST 2023

LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) is an indispensable sensor for precise long- and wide-range 3D sensing, which directly benefited the recent rapid deployment of autonomous driving (AD). Meanwhile, such a safety-critical application strongly motivates its security research. A recent line of research finds that one can manipulate the LiDAR point cloud and fool object detectors by firing malicious lasers against LiDAR. However, these efforts face 3 critical research gaps: (1) considering only one specific LiDAR (VLP-16); (2) assuming unvalidated attack capabilities; and (3) evaluating object detectors with limited spoofing capability modeling and setup diversity. To fill these critical research gaps, we conduct the first large-scale measurement study on LiDAR spoofing attack capabilities on object detectors with 9 popular LiDARs, covering both first- and new-generation LiDARs, and 3 major types of object detectors trained on 5 different datasets. To facilitate the measurements, we (1) identify spoofer improvements that significantly improve the latest spoofing capability, (2) identify a new object removal attack that overcomes the applicability limitation of the latest method to new-generation LiDARs, and (3) perform novel mathematical modeling for both object injection and removal attacks based on our measurement results. Through this study, we are able to uncover a total of 15 novel findings, including not only completely new ones due to the measurement angle novelty, but also many that can directly challenge the latest understandings in this problem space. We also discuss defenses., Comment: The first 3 authors are co-first

We contribute interaction techniques for augmenting mixed reality (MR) visualizations with smartphone proxies. By combining head-mounted displays (HMDs) with mobile touchscreens, we can augment low-resolution holographic 3D charts with precise touch input, haptics feedback, high-resolution 2D graphics, and physical manipulation. Our approach aims to complement both MR and physical visualizations. Most current MR visualizations suffer from unreliable tracking, low visual resolution, and imprecise input. Data physicalizations on the other hand, although allowing for natural physical manipulation, are limited in dynamic and interactive modification. We demonstrate how mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets can serve as physical proxies for MR data interactions, creating dynamic visualizations that support precise manipulation and rich input and output. We describe 6 interaction techniques that leverage the combined physicality, sensing, and output capabilities of HMDs and smartphones, and demonstrate those interactions via a prototype system. Based on an evaluation, we outline opportunities for combining the advantages of both MR and physical charts., Comment: CHI 2023 Late-Breaking Work

This paper introduces VR Haptics at Home, a method of repurposing everyday objects in the home to provide casual and on-demand haptic experiences. Current VR haptic devices are often expensive, complex, and unreliable, which limits the opportunities for rich haptic experiences outside research labs. In contrast, we envision that, by repurposing everyday objects as passive haptics props, we can create engaging VR experiences for casual uses with minimal cost and setup. To explore and evaluate this idea, we conducted an in-the-wild study with eight participants, in which they used our proof-of-concept system to turn their surrounding objects such as chairs, tables, and pillows at their own homes into haptic props. The study results show that our method can be adapted to different homes and environments, enabling more engaging VR experiences without the need for complex setup process. Based on our findings, we propose a possible design space to showcase the potential for future investigation., Comment: CHI 2023 Late-Breaking Work

Despite impressive advances in the AdS3/CFT2 correspondence, the setup involving Ramond-Ramond backgrounds, which is related to the D1-D5 system of branes, remained relatively poorly understood. We use the Mirror TBA equations recently constructed by Frolov and Sfondrini to study the spectrum of pure Ramond-Ramond $AdS_3\times S^3\times T^4$ strings. We find that the leading-order contribution to the anomalous dimensions at small tension is due to the gapless worldsheet excitations, i.e. to the $T^4$ bosons and their superpartners, whose interactions are nontrivial., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

We present ChameleonControl, a real-human teleoperation system for scalable remote instruction in hands-on classrooms. In contrast to existing video or AR/VR-based remote hands-on education, ChameleonControl uses a real human as a surrogate of a remote instructor. Building on existing human-based telepresence approaches, we contribute a novel method to teleoperate a human surrogate through synchronized mixed reality hand gestural navigation and verbal communication. By overlaying the remote instructor's virtual hands in the local user's MR view, the remote instructor can guide and control the local user as if they were physically present. This allows the local user/surrogate to synchronize their hand movements and gestures with the remote instructor, effectively teleoperating a real human. We deploy and evaluate our system in classrooms of physiotherapy training, as well as other application domains such as mechanical assembly, sign language and cooking lessons. The study results confirm that our approach can increase engagement and the sense of co-presence, showing potential for the future of remote hands-on classrooms., Comment: CHI 2023

This paper introduces Teachable Reality, an augmented reality (AR) prototyping tool for creating interactive tangible AR applications with arbitrary everyday objects. Teachable Reality leverages vision-based interactive machine teaching (e.g., Teachable Machine), which captures real-world interactions for AR prototyping. It identifies the user-defined tangible and gestural interactions using an on-demand computer vision model. Based on this, the user can easily create functional AR prototypes without programming, enabled by a trigger-action authoring interface. Therefore, our approach allows the flexibility, customizability, and generalizability of tangible AR applications that can address the limitation of current marker-based approaches. We explore the design space and demonstrate various AR prototypes, which include tangible and deformable interfaces, context-aware assistants, and body-driven AR applications. The results of our user study and expert interviews confirm that our approach can lower the barrier to creating functional AR prototypes while also allowing flexible and general-purpose prototyping experiences., Comment: CHI 2023

HapticLever is a new kinematic approach for VR haptics which uses a 3D pantograph to stiffly render large-scale surfaces using small-scale proxies. The HapticLever approach does not consume power to render forces, but rather puts a mechanical constraint on the end effector using a small-scale proxy surface. The HapticLever approach provides stiff force feedback when the user interacts with a static virtual surface, but allows the user to move their arm freely when moving through free virtual space. We present the problem space, the related work, and the HapticLever design approach., Comment: UIST 2022 Poster

We introduce UltraBots, a system that combines ultrasound haptic feedback and robotic actuation for large-area mid-air haptics for VR. Ultrasound haptics can provide precise mid-air haptic feedback and versatile shape rendering, but the interaction area is often limited by the small size of the ultrasound devices, restricting the possible interactions for VR. To address this problem, this paper introduces a novel approach that combines robotic actuation with ultrasound haptics. More specifically, we will attach ultrasound transducer arrays to tabletop mobile robots or robotic arms for scalable, extendable, and translatable interaction areas. We plan to use Sony Toio robots for 2D translation and/or commercially available robotic arms for 3D translation. Using robotic actuation and hand tracking measured by a VR HMD (e.g., Oculus Quest), our system can keep the ultrasound transducers underneath the user's hands to provide on-demand haptics. We demonstrate applications with workspace environments, medical training, education and entertainment., Comment: UIST 2022 SIC

We present RealityTalk, a system that augments real-time live presentations with speech-driven interactive virtual elements. Augmented presentations leverage embedded visuals and animation for engaging and expressive storytelling. However, existing tools for live presentations often lack interactivity and improvisation, while creating such effects in video editing tools require significant time and expertise. RealityTalk enables users to create live augmented presentations with real-time speech-driven interactions. The user can interactively prompt, move, and manipulate graphical elements through real-time speech and supporting modalities. Based on our analysis of 177 existing video-edited augmented presentations, we propose a novel set of interaction techniques and then incorporated them into RealityTalk. We evaluate our tool from a presenter's perspective to demonstrate the effectiveness of our system., Comment: UIST 2022; For the interactive gallery, see https://ilab.ucalgary.ca/realitytalk/

This paper introduces Sketched Reality, an approach that combines AR sketching and actuated tangible user interfaces (TUI) for bidirectional sketching interaction. Bi-directional sketching enables virtual sketches and physical objects to "affect" each other through physical actuation and digital computation. In the existing AR sketching, the relationship between virtual and physical worlds is only one-directional -- while physical interaction can affect virtual sketches, virtual sketches have no return effect on the physical objects or environment. In contrast, bi-directional sketching interaction allows the seamless coupling between sketches and actuated TUIs. In this paper, we employ tabletop-size small robots (Sony Toio) and an iPad-based AR sketching tool to demonstrate the concept. In our system, virtual sketches drawn and simulated on an iPad (e.g., lines, walls, pendulums, and springs) can move, actuate, collide, and constrain physical Toio robots, as if virtual sketches and the physical objects exist in the same space through seamless coupling between AR and robot motion. This paper contributes a set of novel interactions and a design space of bi-directional AR sketching. We demonstrate a series of potential applications, such as tangible physics education, explorable mechanism, tangible gaming for children, and in-situ robot programming via sketching., Comment: UIST 2022

In this paper, we present Mixels, programmable magnetic pixels that can be rapidly fabricated using an electromagnetic printhead mounted on an off-the-shelve 3-axis CNC machine. The ability to program magnetic material pixel-wise with varying magnetic force enables Mixels to create new tangible, tactile, and haptic interfaces. To facilitate the creation of interactive objects with Mixels, we provide a user interface that lets users specify the high-level magnetic behavior and that then computes the underlying magnetic pixel assignments and fabrication instructions to program the magnetic surface. Our custom hardware add-on based on an electromagnetic printhead and hall effect sensor clips onto a standard 3-axis CNC machine and can both write and read magnetic pixel values from magnetic material. Our evaluation shows that our system can reliably program and read magnetic pixels of various strengths, that we can predict the behavior of two interacting magnetic surfaces before programming them, that our electromagnet is strong enough to create pixels that utilize the maximum magnetic strength of the material being programmed, and that this material remains magnetized when removed from the magnetic plotter., Comment: ACM UIST 2022: ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology

This paper introduces a method to generate highly selective encodings that can be magnetically "programmed" onto physical modules to enable them to self-assemble in chosen configurations. We generate these encodings based on Hadamard matrices, and show how to design the faces of modules to be maximally attractive to their intended mate, while remaining maximally agnostic to other faces. We derive guarantees on these bounds, and verify their attraction and agnosticism experimentally. Using cubic modules whose faces have been covered in soft magnetic material, we show how inexpensive, passive modules with planar faces can be used to selectively self-assemble into target shapes without geometric guides. We show that these modules can be easily re-programmed for new target shapes using a CNC-based magnetic plotter, and demonstrate self-assembly of 8 cubes in a water tank., Comment: 2022 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

When simulating the time evolution of quantum many-body systems on a digital quantum computer, one faces the challenges of quantum noise and of the Trotter error due to time discretization. The Trotter error in integrable spin chains can be under control if the discrete time evolution preserves integrability. In this work we implement, on a real quantum computer and on classical simulators, the integrable Trotterization of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg XXX spin chain. We study how quantum noise affects the time evolution of several conserved charges, and observe the decay of the expectation values. We in addition study the early time behaviors of the time evolution, which can potentially be used to benchmark quantum devices and algorithms in the future. We also provide an efficient method to generate the conserved charges at higher orders., Comment: 26 pages, data and codes available at https://github.com/takuoku/integrable-trotterization

This paper introduces a cube-based reconfigurable robot that utilizes an electromagnet-based actuation framework to reconfigure in three dimensions via pivoting. While a variety of actuation mechanisms for self-reconfigurable robots have been explored, they often suffer from cost, complexity, assembly and sizing requirements that prevent scaled production of such robots. To address this challenge, we use an actuation mechanism based on electromagnets embedded into the edges of each cube to interchangeably create identically or oppositely polarized electromagnet pairs, resulting in repulsive or attractive forces, respectively. By leveraging attraction for hinge formation, and repulsion to drive pivoting maneuvers, we can reconfigure the robot by voxelizing it and actuating its constituent modules - termed Electrovoxels - via electromagnetically actuated pivoting. To demonstrate this, we develop fully untethered, three-dimensional self-reconfigurable robots and demonstrate 2D and 3D self-reconfiguration using pivot and traversal maneuvers on an air-table and in microgravity on a parabolic flight. This paper describes the hardware design of our robots, its pivoting framework, our reconfiguration planning software, and an evaluation of the dynamical and electrical characteristics of our system to inform the design of scalable self-reconfigurable robots., Comment: 2022 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

This paper contributes to a taxonomy of augmented reality and robotics based on a survey of 460 research papers. Augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR) have emerged as a new way to enhance human-robot interaction (HRI) and robotic interfaces (e.g., actuated and shape-changing interfaces). Recently, an increasing number of studies in HCI, HRI, and robotics have demonstrated how AR enables better interactions between people and robots. However, often research remains focused on individual explorations and key design strategies, and research questions are rarely analyzed systematically. In this paper, we synthesize and categorize this research field in the following dimensions: 1) approaches to augmenting reality; 2) characteristics of robots; 3) purposes and benefits; 4) classification of presented information; 5) design components and strategies for visual augmentation; 6) interaction techniques and modalities; 7) application domains; and 8) evaluation strategies. We formulate key challenges and opportunities to guide and inform future research in AR and robotics., Comment: CHI 2022

We introduce Swarm Fabrication, a novel concept of creating on-demand, scalable, and reconfigurable fabrication machines made of swarm robots. We present ways to construct an element of fabrication machines, such as motors, elevator, table, feeder, and extruder, by leveraging toio robots and 3D printed attachments. By combining these elements, we demonstrate constructing a X-Y-Z plotter with multiple toio robots, which can be used for drawing plotters and 3D printers. We also show the possibility to extend our idea to more general-purpose fabrication machines, which include 3D printers, CNC machining, foam cutters, line drawing devices, pick and place machines, 3D scanning, etc. Through this, we draw a future vision, where the swarm robots can construct a scalable and reconfigurable fabrication machines on-demand, which can be deployed anywhere the user wishes. We believe this fabrication technique will become a means of interactive and highly flexible fabrication in the future., Comment: UIST'21 Student Innovation Contest

HapticBots introduces a novel encountered-type haptic approach for Virtual Reality (VR) based on multiple tabletop-size shape-changing robots. These robots move on a tabletop and change their height and orientation to haptically render various surfaces and objects on-demand. Compared to previous encountered-type haptic approaches like shape displays or robotic arms, our proposed approach has an advantage in deployability, scalability, and generalizability -- these robots can be easily deployed due to their compact form factor. They can support multiple concurrent touch points in a large area thanks to the distributed nature of the robots. We propose and evaluate a novel set of interactions enabled by these robots which include: 1) rendering haptics for VR objects by providing just-in-time touch-points on the user's hand, 2) simulating continuous surfaces with the concurrent height and position change, and 3) enabling the user to pick up and move VR objects through graspable proxy objects. Finally, we demonstrate HapticBots with various applications, including remote collaboration, education and training, design and 3D modeling, and gaming and entertainment., Comment: UIST 2021