Widget interaction for extended reality (XR) applications

An electronic device comprising:

• a head-mounted display (HMD) configured to render a virtual widget at a first position in an extended reality (XR) space;
• and
• at least one processing device configured to:
• receive a hand gesture of a user at a second position in the XR space detected using at least one optical sensor of the HMD, wherein the second position is between the first position and the at least one optical sensor;
• determine a duration of the hand gesture and a distance between the first position and the second position;
• perform a first type of action or a second type of action based on at least one of the duration or the distance, wherein the first type of action corresponds to a system-level control of the virtual widget and the second type of action corresponds to a content-level control of the virtual widget, and wherein a content hit target is marked to disable widget system level hits when the second type of action is performed;
• and
• render at least one of a visual feedback or an audio feedback based on at least one of the duration or the distance.

A method comprising:

• receiving a first video captured using an outward facing camera associated with a head-mounted display (HMD) worn by a user, the first video capturing a user environment;
• receiving a second video captured using an eye tracking camera associated with the HMD;
• identifying a real world object on which eyes of the user are focused based on the second video, wherein the real world object is associated with a set of control options;
• calibrating the real world object and user contact with the real world object to map and interpret one or more movements of the real world object and the user contact to control one or more widgets based on one or more calibration thresholds;
• determining a gaze of the user based on the second video;
• registering a widget last gazed on by the user;
• determining a type of interaction the user makes with the real world object during the user contact based on the first video, the type of interaction comprising one of a contact interaction, a rotation interaction, or a shift interaction;
• selecting a control option among the set of control options based on the determined type of interaction;
• selecting a virtual widget based on the gaze of the user and the registered widget;
• and
• controlling the virtual widget in an extended reality (XR) space based on the selected control option and the one or more calibration thresholds.