The present technology relates to artificial reality systems. Such systems provide projections a user can create to specify object interactions. For example, when a user wishes to interact with an object outside her immediate reach, she can use a projection to select, move, or otherwise interact with the distant object. The present technology also includes object selection techniques for identifying and disambiguating between objects, allowing a user to select objects both near and distant from the user. Yet further aspects of the present technology include techniques for interpreting various bimanual (two-handed) gestures for interacting with objects. The present technology further includes a model for differentiating between global and local modes for, e.g., providing different input modalities or interpretations of user gestures.