The 33rd IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR & 3DUI), a leading conference in the field of virtual reality research, was held in Daegu, South Korea, from March 21 to 25. In 2026, two papers with Researcher Guanghan Zhao as the first and corresponding author were accepted, and he presented them orally on March 23. Both papers present research results on 3D user interfaces designed to make input in AR/MR environments accurate and comfortable, and are expected to serve as foundational technologies supporting the expanded use of AR/MR devices in daily life.

The first is “BlanchTouch,” a new input method that utilizes the blanching phenomenon, in which the skin on the fingertips temporarily turns white when pressure is applied. AI analyzes camera footage from AR/MR head-mounted displays to recognize the state of the fingertips and detect when they come into contact with a hard surface. As a result, this enables the use of familiar flat surfaces, such as walls and partitions, as makeshift input panels, thereby realizing AR/MR operation without the need for special equipment or prior calibration. The paper has been accepted for the conference proceedings and is scheduled to be published on IEEE Xplore. (Project Introduction Page)

Paper:
Guanghan Zhao, Yangyang Cai, Kazuyuki Fujita, Robert W. Lindeman, Yoshifumi Kitamura: BlanchTouch: Bringing Fingertip Blanch Detection into Mixed Reality for Touch Input on Flat Surfaces, Proceeding of 2026 IEEE Conference Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR & 3DUI) （IEEE Xplore で 公開予定）

The second paper proposes a new text input method called “FanType,” which uses an algorithm to predict the characters the user is attempting to type. This method allows for rapid input using only small thumb movements by presenting predicted input candidates in a fan-shaped layout on a compact virtual keyboard designed for smartphones. Experimental results confirmed that this approach reduces input errors and alleviates strain on the wrist. The paper has been accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics and is scheduled to be published on IEEE Xplore. This presentation was given in advance of that publication. (Project Introduction Page)

Paper:
Guanghan Zhao, Louis Teys, Gyeonghwan Yang, Shengdong Zhao, and Yoshifumi Kitamura: FanType: Intention-Inferring Fan-shaped Thumb Interface for Text Entry on Small XR Keyboards, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics （IEEE Xplore で 公開予定）