48.3HCMar 13
It Depends: Re_Authoring Play Through Clinical Reasoning in Wearable AR Rehab GamesBinyan Xu, Wei Wu, Soonhyeon Kweon et al.
Augmented reality games hold promise for rehabilitation, yet most remain confined to laboratory studies with limited clinical uptake. Recent advances in spatial computing, especially lightweight, glasses_form_factor AR, create a timely opportunity to embed rehabilitative play into clinical practice and daily contexts. To investigate this potential, we systematically reviewed 132 applications and conducted playtesting with 14 licensed physical therapists. Our analysis revealed three ways therapists re_authored AR games: co_authored play (reshaping movements, progressions, and difficulty), situated play (adapting across specialties, conditions, and contexts), and dual play (mediating both physical recovery and psychological support). We reframe therapists' frequent phrase_It depends_as a generative design principle. This study contributes a clinical reasoning_based framework and design principles and guidelines for creating personalized, situated forms of play that align with therapists' everyday workflows and inform future lab_to_clinic translation.
55.7HCMar 13
Reimagining Wearable AR Gesture Design: Physical Therapy Reasoning in Everyday ContextsWei Wu, Binyan Xu, Soonhyeon Kweon et al.
Lightweight augmented reality (AR) glasses are increasingly entering everyday use, extending interaction design beyond short, isolated sessions. However, most existing gesture vocabularies are inherited from VR headsets or early AR goggles. These systems tend to prioritize recognizer accuracy while overlooking fatigue, sustainability, and social legibility in daily contexts. To address this gap, we collaborated with physical therapists (PTs) to reimagine gesture design for everyday AR, drawing on their expertise in safe and sustainable movement. Through a review of 104 AR applications, we identified 15 common gesture intents and implemented an on-device gesture generator. Ten licensed physical therapists, with an average of 14.8 years of professional experience, then shaped these gesture intents through three iterative stages: unaided gesture performance, PT-guided gesture substitution, and stage-aware card sorting. This work contributes (1) a PT-informed gesture translation method, (2) the Everyday-AR Golden Ergonomic Canvas, and (3) a stage-aware social legibility framework that illustrates how gesture suitability shifts with social readability. Together, these contributions provide a recognizer-agnostic reference framework for designing sustainable and socially coherent gesture vocabularies for lightweight AR glasses.