Graspable Memories: A Sustainable Approach to Holding Personal Memories Through Occlusion-Aware Projected Interaction

As personal digital media accumulate across devices and cloud services, they become abundant yet intangible, weakening the rituals that once supported remembering. Graspable Memories is an AI-based XR system built on Embodied Projected Mixed Reality (EPMR) that explores how projected interaction and bodily occlusion can restore tangibility to digital memories while advancing United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 on responsible consumption and production. Using a fixed projector-camera setup with AI-based hand tracking, the system projects personal media onto a tabletop, where they can be selected by occluding them with an open palm, moved through a volumetric interaction space, and transferred with a grasp gesture to a wearable pendant with a reconfigurable display. This dematerialized workflow offers an alternative to physical photo printing and disposable keepsakes, directly engaging SDG 12 targets on waste reduction and more sustainable consumption. An exploratory study with twelve participants, using the User Experience Questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, examines usability, emotional engagement, and the symbolism of hand-topendant transitions. Findings highlight strong perceived novelty and personal resonance, along with current tracking limitations, and point to design implications for human-centered, sustainable Industry 5.0 XR experiences that treat the body and occlusion as primary elements of the interface.