Break the Window:
Exploring Spatial Decomposition of Webpages in XR

Chenyang Zhang Tianjian Wei Haoyang Yang Mar Gonzalez-Franco Yalong Yang Eric J Gonzalez
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BTW rethinks XR web experiences by breaking the window and decomposing webpages into spatially distributed UI chunks, shifting from a content → window → space hierarchy to a content → space design that enables direct engagement with web information through spatial organization and embodied interaction.

System Overview

System Diagram
A live webpage is rendered in a standard browser and streamed into XR as multiple spatial panels, while user interactions in XR are forwarded back to the original webpage in real time.

User Study

Study Results
User study setup
User study demo video
Study Results
Google Maps setup
Study Results
YouTube setup
Study Results
Slides setup

Findings

Findings 5-a
Figure 5-a
Finding 1: Attention and interaction become distributed in space. While this allows for simultaneous content viewing, it increases coordination costs and physical fatigue due to the effort required to manage distant or off-center panels.
Findings 5-bc
Figure 5-bc
Finding 2: Space becomes a semantic substrate. Over time, participants formed location-function bindings, using spatial memory to retrieve information. However, misplacement proved costly: panels that appeared too near/far, or frequently moved disrupted expectations and led to hesitation.
Findings 5-f
Figure 5-def
Finding 3: Physical anchoring both stabilizes and complicates interaction. Anchoring virtual content to real surfaces improved perceived control and precision. Unfortunately, this introduced conflicts where virtual panels occlude physical objects and writing gestures are mistakenly interpreted as inputs.
Findings 5-gh
Figure 5-gh
Finding 4: Immersion-driven engagement does not imply productivity. BTW was widely described as novel and engaging, particularly for exploratory and visual scenarios such as browsing and media consumption. However, participants did not consistently feel faster or more efficient
Finding 5: Spatial web browsing lacks a shared UI grammar. Across websites, participants improvised their own layout rules but repeatedly noted the absence of conventions (e.g., “no rule for where things should go”).

Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. IIS-2441310.

BibTeX 

   @inproceedings{Zhang:2026:BreakTheWindow,
      author    = {Zhang, Chenyang and Wei, Tianjian and Yang, Haoyang and Gonzalez-Franco, Mar and Yang, Yalong and Gonzalez, Eric J.},
      title     = {Break the Window: Exploring Spatial Decomposition of Webpages in XR},
      booktitle = {Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
      year      = {2026}}

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