Your Eyes and Hands Could Make VR Objects Easier to Create

Putting a virtual chair in your living room before you buy it? That's the promise of extended reality (XR), which covers both virtual reality and augmented reality. But right now, creating an object that floats in mid-air — with no table or wall to place it on — is frustrating. You typically need a controller, a menu, or some other clunky workaround. A new paper from researchers in Korea and Denmark tackles this problem head-on.

They created Point&Spawn, a simple system that uses two cues to decide where you want an object to appear. First, your eyes look at a general direction, or you point with your non-dominant hand. Then, a second gesture sets how far away the object should be. The whole process is one smooth, continuous hand motion, so it feels less like using a computer and more like telling someone where to put something.

The team tested six different combinations of these cues with 24 volunteers. Two methods came out clear winners. One involved pointing with your hand and pulling an imaginary lever to set the distance, and the other let you drag and hold the object at the right spot. Both were faster, more accurate, and easier to use than older approaches. Surprisingly, pointing with your gaze meant less arm movement, but pointing with your shoulder as a reference was quicker for finding the right spot.

Why does this matter? Because VR and AR headsets are moving beyond games and into real work — architecture, virtual meetings, medical training, even online shopping. The less we need to fumble with controllers and menus, the more natural these tools become. This research brings us a step closer to a future where just looking and pointing is enough to build and arrange your digital world.