A camera tracking system for computer assisted navigation during surgery, the camera tracking system configured to: identify a reference array tracked by a set of tracking cameras attached to an extended reality (XR) headset ; determine whether the reference array is registered as being paired with characteristics of one of a plurality of surgical tools defined in a surgical tool database; based on the reference array being determined to not be registered and receiving user input, register the reference array as paired with characteristics of one of the plurality of surgical tools selected based on the user input; and provide a representation of the characteristics to a display device of the XR headset for display to the user; wherein the camera tracking system is further configured to: based on the reference array being determined to not be registered, provide to the display device a list of at least some of the plurality of the surgical tools defined in the surgical tool database for the user to select the one of the surgical tools to be registered as paired with the reference array; and determine the user's selection among the displayed list of the one of the surgical tools to be registered as paired with the reference array, based on tracking information from the set of tracking cameras indicating pose of a hand of the user in XR space relative to the displayed list. identify a reference array tracked by a set of tracking cameras attached to an extended reality (XR) headset ; determine whether the reference array is registered as being paired with characteristics of one of a plurality of surgical tools defined in a surgical tool database; based on the reference array being determined to not be registered and receiving user input, register the reference array as paired with characteristics of one of the plurality of surgical tools selected based on the user input; and provide a representation of the characteristics to a display device of the XR headset for display to the user; wherein the camera tracking system is further configured to: based on the reference array being determined to not be registered, provide to the display device a list of at least some of the plurality of the surgical tools defined in the surgical tool database for the user to select the one of the surgical tools to be registered as paired with the reference array; and determine the user's selection among the displayed list of the one of the surgical tools to be registered as paired with the reference array, based on tracking information from the set of tracking cameras indicating pose of a hand of the user in XR space relative to the displayed list. based on the reference array being determined to not be registered, provide to the display device a list of at least some of the plurality of the surgical tools defined in the surgical tool database for the user to select the one of the surgical tools to be registered as paired with the reference array; and determine the user's selection among the displayed list of the one of the surgical tools to be registered as paired with the reference array, based on tracking information from the set of tracking cameras indicating pose of a hand of the user in XR space relative to the displayed list. <EOS>