Embedding data into the physical environment using augmented reality (AR) is a practical approach for data visualization as it offers a large and flexible display space on or around the physical referent, i.e. the physical object to which the data is related. Yet current interaction in such context is often performed using cumbersome dedicated devices, tiring mid-air gestures or awkward on-body input. In this paper, we investigate the use of the physical referent itself as a support for input interaction with an embedded space-time cube (STC) representation. Hence, we first identify the most promising mappings between the physical features of the referent (edges, faces, corners) and the STC dimensions. Then, we design three data selection techniques using the physical referent and compare them to mid-air gestures when performing selection tasks on the STC. Overall, our work demonstrates that using the physical referent to support input interaction with embedded data representations is an efficient and comfortable approach for data selection in standing and sitting situations.

使用增强现实（AR）将数据嵌入到物理环境中是一种实用的数据可视化方法，因为它在物理指示物（即与数据相关的物理对象）上或周围提供了大而灵活的显示空间。然而，当前在这种情况下的交互通常是使用笨重的专用设备、令人疲惫的空中手势或尴尬的身体输入来执行的。在本文中，我们研究了使用物理指示物本身作为与嵌入式时空立方体（STC）表示的输入交互的支持。因此，我们首先确定参考对象的物理特征（边缘、面、角）和 STC 尺寸之间最有希望的映射。然后，我们使用物理参考设计了三种数据选择技术，并将它们与在 STC 上执行选择任务时的空中手势进行比较。总的来说，我们的工作表明，使用物理指示物支持与嵌入式数据表示的输入交互是站立和坐着情况下数据选择的一种高效且舒适的方法。