GG Interaction: a gaze–grasp pose interaction for 3D virtual object selection

During the last two decades, development of 3D object selection techniques has been widely studied because it is critical for providing an interactive virtual environment to users. Previous techniques encounter difficulties with selecting small or distant objects, as well as naturalness and physical fatigue. Although eye-hand based interaction techniques have been promoted as the ideal solution to these problems, research on eye-hand based spatial interaction techniques in 3D virtual spaces has progressed very slowly. We propose a natural and efficient spatial interaction technique for object selection, which is motivated by understanding the human grasp. The proposed technique, gaze–grasp pose interaction (GG Interaction), has many advantages, such as quick and easy selection of small or distant objects, less physical fatigue, and elimination of eye-hand visibility mismatch. Additionally, even if an object is partially overlapped by other objects, GG Interaction enables a user to select the target object easily. We compare GG Interaction with a standard ray-casting technique through a formal user study (participants $$=$$ 20) across two scenarios. The results of the study confirm that GG Interaction provides natural, quick and easy selection for users.