DOI: 10.1145/3143318 © 2017 ACM 1072-5520/17/11 $15.00

WatchThru has
interesting
potential as an
unobtrusive and
always-accessible
wrist-worn
AR device.

Maurício Sousa, Daniel Mendes, Soraia Paulo, Nuno Matela, Joaquim Jorge, and Daniel Simões Lopes, Universidade de Lisboa

→ [e-mail]

4. WatchThru

Watch Thru is an interactive method for extending wrist-worn displays on commercially available smartwatches. To address the limited visual and interaction space, Watch Thru expands the device into 3D through a transparent display.

This enables three novel
interactions that leverage
and extend smartwatch
glanceability: Pop-up Visuals,
Second Perspective, and Peek-
through. In contrast to most AR
displays, this device does not
obstruct the user’s face, nor
does it require the user to hold it
(like a smartphone). It therefore
has interesting potential as a
wearable, unobtrusive, and
always-accessible wrist-worn
AR device.

Wenig, D., Schöning, J., Olwal, A., Oben, M., and Malaka, R.

Watch Thru: Expanding smartwatch displays with mid-air visuals and

4

Watch Thru extends smart watch displays into 3D space, enabling novel AR interactions.

wrist-worn augmented reality.
Proc. of the International Conference
on Human Factors in Computing
Systems. 2017.
http://www.dirkwenig.eu/
research/watchthru/
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=PsNDF8yrhwI
Dirk Wenig,
University of Bremen
Johannes Schöning,
University of Bremen
Alex Olwal, Google
Mathias Oben, Hasselt University
Rainer Malaka, University of Bremen
→ [e-mail]
INTERAC TIONS. ACM.ORG NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2017 INTERAC TIONS 11