CoBranchMR: Supporting Parallel Design and Conflict Resolution in Mixed Reality

Abstract

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.

3 pages, 2 figures, accepted as a Demonstration paper at CSCW 2026