MSc.Thesis Defense: BİLGEHAN ÇAĞILTAY

Navigation Performance in Complex Multi-Story Environments Using Audio-First Mixed Reality

Bilgehan Çağıltay
Computer Science and Engineering, MSc. Thesis, 2025

Thesis Jury

Prof. Dr. Selim Balcısoy, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Göktürk,

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Selçuk Artut

Date & Time: 19th, 2025 –  10 AM

Place: FENS G015

Keywords : Mixed Reality, Situated Analytics, Audio Augmented Reality

Abstract

MR interfaces have traditionally prioritized visual modalities as the primary conduit for user interaction. While effective in certain contexts, this visual-first approach reveals critical limitations in high-stakes, cognitively demanding environments where sustained visual attention may be impractical or counterproductive. This study challenges the dominance of visual-centric design in MR and advocates for a transformative shift toward audio-centric interaction paradigms. Accordingly, a conceptual framework for an Audio-Based Situated Analytics system is proposed. Such a system, rebalances sensory load by elevating auditory engagement and reserving visual channels for the most urgent, attention-critical tasks. This holds the potential to significantly enhance usability, resilience, and inclusivity in a range of applications. An AR navigation task software is developed by following this proposed framework. Finally, the study experimentally evaluates the effectiveness of 3D spatial navigation in an AR environment using this software. It compares the performance of participants using audio AR navigation to those using visual AR navigation, traditional navigation without aids, and a combination of audio and visual AR. The results of this study show that audio AR has the capability to maintain the environmental awareness of a user similar to that of a person who does not use any AR assistance. The results also show that audio AR is capable of having similar performance to visual AR in the navigation of complex, 3D environments. The results show similar findings for audio AR in 3D environments to those of previous literature, which were mainly focused on 2D environments. As a conclusion, this study provides several insights on the benefits of audio AR in the context of navigation of 3D environments. The results also identify several areas for future research.