About Two Physical Interaction Metaphors: Narrowing the Gap between the Real and the Virtual World

In this paper we present ideas that can help to close the gap between virtual reality and embedded interaction, which are usually assumed to be the two extremes of a dimension that describes mixed reality interaction. We present our preliminary ideas on surface interaction with stereoscopic data as well as our work on mobile camera-projector units. While the first line of research tries to increase the degree of the interaction experience in virtual worlds, the second uses the physical properties of the real world to enhance the augmented reality experience. The first idea uses the physical world to constraint the interaction in the virtual world. The second idea embeds virtual information into the physical world by respecting its physical properties.