PhD Defence • Human–Computer Interaction • Tangible World-in-Miniature Interaction in Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality provides a rich spatial platform for working with miniature representations and tangible proxies across multiple scales and views. However, existing World-in-Miniature (WiM) systems face persistent challenges in scale perception, interaction continuity, and balancing speed with precision. In my dissertation, I investigate how combining tangible proxies with WiM environments can support fluid multi-scale spatial interaction. First, I present empirical insights from exploratory studies on miniature design tools and quantify user tolerance for visual–proprioceptive scale mismatches in VR. Next, I synthesize these perceptual findings into a multidimensional design framework for managing spatial and scale discrepancies over time. Finally, I introduce Laminar, an instantiated interaction technique that operationalizes this framework to enable continuous, intuitive, and scalable multi-scalar spatial design in VR.