Exploring levels of visual realism of digital twins to support user guidance in augmented reality

Abstract

Visual realism is a key consideration in augmented reality (AR), especially when it comes to guiding tasks employing digital twins. This poster presents the findings of a qualitative user study that explored user comprehension and interaction in a step-by-step AR guidance scenario with different levels of visual realism in digital twins. We developed an AR prototype for the Apple Vision Pro using SwiftUI and Unity to simulate a radiopharmaceutical mixing procedure. Participants (N = 9) performed the task under two distinct scenarios: 1) with visual cues using high visual realism and 2) with visual cues using low visual realism and abstract elements for guidance. The results show that, while high visual realism helps with spatial orientation and understanding of the system, it can also cause confusion when there are mismatches between the digital and physical elements. In contrast, cues with low visual realism were quickly and consistently understood by our participants. These findings suggest that combining a realistic environmental context with abstract visual cues could improve the clarity of AR guidance. This work provides early-stage design considerations for digital twin design in AR.