A comparison of sensorimotor assessment accuracy between augmented reality and touchscreen environments

Augmented Reality provides a mobile platform that could be used for a variety of human motor control assessments. Sensorimotor evaluations, directed towards hand-eye coordination, have widespread applications in many domains. This study investigated the effect of modality on a sensorimotor assessment by comparing button press location accuracy when administered through a touchscreen and with augmented reality. Participants performed a multidirectional tapping task under two degrees of Task Difficulty and Modality. Average accuracy decreased as the difficulty of the task increased as expected. Average accuracy also decreased when performing the task using AR as compared to using the touchscreen. There was no significant interaction between Task Difficulty and Modality. While AR can be used to assess hand-eye coordination, care should be taken when comparing to measures collected from different modalities. Further work will evaluate additional metrics to support understanding differences and similarities in these interfaces to support design recommendations.