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CoBranchMR: Supporting Parallel Design and Conflict Resolution in Mixed Reality

Niloofar Sayadi, Kaiyuan Tang, Yunhao Xing, Simret Gebreegziabher, Chaoli Wang, Diego Gomez-Zara

arXiv:2609.27235v1cs.HC

TL;DR

Distributed collaborators face challenges coordinating contributions to physical artifacts, and existing shared-workspace systems do not support parallel exploration before design decisions. CoBranchMR lets collaborators branch and customize object representations independently, then merge them and resolve surface conflicts. Its demo illustrates how this interaction can support movement between individual exploration and joint decision-making.

  • Problem

    Physical objects are situated in one place and are difficult for distributed collaborators to view or edit together, while shared-object workflows can force premature negotiation and limit comparison of alternative designs.

    Source: §1 · pp. 1–2

  • Method

    CoBranchMR reconstructs a physical object as a virtual representation that collaborators branch into editable copies, customize independently, and merge with conflicts displayed on the object surface.

    Source: §1 · p. 2

  • Results

    The demo shows how branch-and-merge interaction can support a collaborative process moving between individual exploration and joint decision-making.

    Source: §1 · p. 2

  • Takeaways & Limitations

    The interaction model extends CSCW coordination, awareness, shared-artifact, and conflict-negotiation research into embodied MR settings.

    Source: §4 · p. 3

    Painting on an AI-generated proxy mesh over the splat can cause slight stroke offsets when the two are misaligned.

    Source: §3 · p. 3

Abstract

from arXiv · show

We present CoBranchMR, a mixed reality (MR) system that enables distributed collaborators to work in parallel from different locations on the same digital representation of a physical object. CoBranchMR lets users branch an object into editable virtual copies, customize them independently, and then merge their work back into a shared object. When merging copies, the system displays potential conflicts on the object's surface and provides several resolution options. By adopting branch-and-merge workflows for embodied spatial collaboration, CoBranchMR introduces a new collaborative interaction model that supports parallel design, conflict resolution, and negotiation in remote creative work.

1 Introduction

Distributed artifact collaboration requires coordinating individual contributions, but physical objects and shared workspaces make alignment and common ground difficult. CoBranchMR applies branch-and-merge interaction to MR so collaborators can explore independently, surface overlapping edits, and negotiate a shared outcome.

1 Introduction

  • Distributed collaborators must articulate individual actions into a shared object, while physical objects’ single-location presence and limited shared view complicate coordination and common ground.Version-control concepts have been applied to VR scenes and image editing, but less is known about branch-and-merge around MR artifacts with spatial, embodied, surface-tied conflicts.Source: §1 · pp. 1–2
  • Shared-object editing can force premature negotiation and limit individual exploration, making it harder to compare alternative designs.Prior remote collaboration systems support shared context and joint manipulation, but not parallel exploration before collaborators decide what to preserve, combine, or discard.Source: §1 · p. 2
  • CoBranchMR reconstructs a physical object as a photorealistic virtual representation, lets collaborators customize separate copies, and merges them through an embodied MR interaction.Overlapping edits appear directly on the object surface, with options to keep either version, blend both, or undo the merge.Source: §1 · p. 2
  • CoBranchMR demonstrates how branch-and-merge interaction can move distributed creative work between individual exploration and joint decision-making.The demo presents an interaction model for coordinating parallel work, maintaining conflict awareness, and negotiating shared outcomes.Source: §1 · p. 2

2 System Description

CoBranchMR reconstructs an object, supports independent painting on user-specific copies, and brings those copies together for merge and conflict handling. Users can inspect surface conflicts and choose how to reconcile the edits before continuing collaborative refinement.

2 System Description

  • The system reconstructs a physical object as a Gaussian-splat representation, lets two users customize separate branches, and detects conflicts when they merge the copies.After resolving conflicts, users continue refining the merged design collaboratively.Source: §2 · p. 2
  • Each user paints and erases directly on their object copy, with smooth strokes attached to the object and tagged with the creator’s user ID.The brush paints after dipping into a colored cube; the eraser removes stroke segments.Source: Branch: Independent Painting · p. 2
  • When users confirm a merge, strokes transfer between copies through coordinate-space conversion, and the second copy is removed.The users bring their copies together until they touch to initiate the merge.Source: Merge: Bringing Copies Together · p. 2
  • After merging, the Conflict Manager compares points from the two users’ strokes and flags a conflict when any pair is less than 5 cm apart.A glowing yellow sphere marks each conflict on the object; checking stops after a conflicting stroke pair is found to keep the MR frame rate smooth.Source: Conflict Detection · p. 3
  • A user-facing resolution panel offers “Keep Mine,” “Keep Theirs,” “Blend,” and “Undo” for each merge.The panel faces the user; undo restores the separate copies, while blend leaves both users’ strokes visible.Source: Conflict Resolution · p. 3

3 Future Work

Future work outlines studies and system extensions to examine negotiation, digital-to-physical transfer, editing fidelity, and broader collaboration scenarios.

3 Future Work

  • A controlled dyad study is planned to examine conflict negotiation strategies, negotiation patterns, and satisfaction with merged outcomes in 3D creative work.The study would investigate how collaborators negotiate conflicts.Source: §3 · p. 3
  • Future work will study whether decisions made on digital representations transfer to physical objects and whether users feel confident implementing merged designs on real artifacts.It will also examine whether the digital representation is sufficiently faithful for that transition.Source: §3 · p. 3
  • Painting on an AI-generated proxy mesh over the Gaussian splat can cause slight stroke offsets when the two are misaligned.Direct runtime editing of splat colors is proposed to reduce this issue and improve editing and export workflows.Source: §3 · p. 3
  • Possible extensions include supporting more users and objects, group merges from a shared base, and generative AI recommendations of related virtual objects during ideation.Source: §3 · p. 3

4 Conclusion

CoBranchMR adapts branch-and-merge workflows to collaborative customization of 3D objects, letting distributed users edit parallel versions and resolve surface-level conflicts. The interaction model extends CSCW coordination and conflict negotiation into embodied MR and opens avenues for studying remote creative work with digital representations of physical artifacts.

4 Conclusion

  • CoBranchMR lets distributed users edit parallel versions of a digital object and resolve surface-level conflicts by selecting either version, blending both, or undoing the merge.Source: §4 · p. 3
  • The interaction model extends CSCW research on coordination, awareness, shared artifacts, and conflict negotiation into embodied MR settings.Source: §4 · p. 3
  • The prototype opens avenues for studying remote creative work involving digital representations of physical artifacts.Source: §4 · p. 3

AI Disclosure

The authors disclose AI assistance in illustrative figures and writing, while noting that they reviewed and approved the technical content, claims, and final text.

  • Figure 1 was created by the first author and includes AI-generated illustrative elements made using Google Gemini.Source: AI Disclosure · p. 3
  • The authors created Figure 2 from the CoBranchMR prototype and used AI-based writing tools for grammar, clarity, and language revision.Source: AI Disclosure · p. 3
  • The authors reviewed and approved all technical content, claims, and the final text.Source: AI Disclosure · p. 3
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