Embarking upon my journey to learn about spatial design, I have been digging into design and development documentation, watching product demos, and getting hands-on with device demo time. There is quite a bit of great material out there. I am excited to peer into the forefront of emerging technological shifts and ponder which aspects will become a long-standing change and usher in new standards.
As I have started to learn more about spatial design, I keep finding myself asking the following questions:
Grids and grid systems are well ingrained throughout the design process for two-dimensional design. There are numerous well-established grid systems and reliable methodologies you can rely on for any project imaginable. How can we make that transition into three-dimensional space?
Luckily, some existing guidelines can help steer us. Current guidelines may vary depending on the device, input methods, and accessibility considerations. I expect guidelines to shift and evolve alongside technological advancements and changing user needs. When digging into high-level guidelines for content placement, it can be helpful to consider it from a few different areas: field of view, depth, distance, ergonomics, & viewing angles.
In this article, I will focus on field of view to get started. The field of view represents what your eyes can see within your range of vision. Thinking about how you might look around a room, you can view only a portion of it at a time, with the edges in your periphery somewhat blurry and unfocused. The entire field of view for both of your eyes is 220°.
If you look at this as a pie slice, you would see that it is about 60% of the pie, meaning approximately 60% of your surroundings are inside your field of view. At the edges, you will see the peripheral areas. UI elements or content in a peripheral area will not be as clearly visible as within your central field of view.
When considering current hardware capabilities, you typically have less than your entire field of view visible in the device display. Currently available devices range between 90° to 150° for field of view. Your primary UI and viewing experience should aim to stay within this area. Avoid peripheral zones when considering placement for critical UI elements and content due to how easy it can be to miss that information at first glance.
It is helpful to distinguish how these guidelines apply to immersive experiences versus a windowed interface or volume. In situations with an immersive experience, the intention is to have content and some interaction across all 360°. However, default placement and access for critical UI needs consideration to ensure users aren't inadvertently stuck or lose their ability to control the experience when needed.
