The Effect of Prior Virtual Reality Experience on Locomotion and Navigation in Virtual Environments

VirtualReality(VR) is becoming more accessible and widely utilized in crucial disciplines like training, communication, healthcare, and education. One of the important parts of VR applications is walking through virtual environments. So, researchers have broadly studied various kinds of walking in VR as it can reduce sickness, improve the sense of presence, and enhance the general user experience. Due to the recent availability of consumer Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), people are using HMDs in all sorts of different locations. It underscores the need for locomotion methods that allow users to move through large Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs) when occupying a small physical space or even seated. Although many aspects of locomotion in VR have received extensive research, very little work has considered how locomotive behaviors might change over time as users become more experienced in IVEs. As HMDs were rarely encountered outside of a lab before 2016, most locomotion research before this was likely conducted with VR novices who had no prior experience with the technology. However, as this is no longer the case, itis important to consider whether locomotive behaviors may evolve over time with user experience. This proposal specifically studies locomotive behaviors and effects that may adjust over time. For the first study, we conducted experiments measuring novice and experienced subjects’ gait parameters in VR and real environments. Prior research has established that users’ gait in virtual and real environments differs; however, little research has evaluated how users’ gait differs as users gain more experience with VR. We conducted experiments measuring novice and experienced subjects’ gait parameters in VR and real environments. Results showed that subjects’ performance in VR and Real World was more similar in the last trials than in the first trials; their walking dissimilarity in the start trials diminished by walking more trials. We found the trials a significant variable affecting the walking speed, step length, and trunk angle for both groups of users. While the main effect of expertise was not observed, an interaction effect between expertise and the trial number was shown. The trunk angle increased over time for novices but decreased for experts. These cond study reports the results of an experiment investigating how users’ behavior with two locomotion methods changed over four weeks: teleportation and joystick-based locomotion. Twenty novice VR users (no more than 1 hour prior experience with any form of walking in VR) were recruited. They loaned an Oculus Quest for four weeks on their own time, including an activity we provided them with. Results showed that the time required to complete the navigation task decreased faster for joystick-based locomotion. Spatial memory improved with time, particularly when using teleportation (which starts disadvantaged to joystick-based locomotion). Also, overall cyber sickness decreased slightly overtime; two dimensions of cyber sickness (nausea and disorientation) increased notably over time using joystick-based navigation. The next study presents the findings of a longitudinal research study investigating the effects of locomotion methods within virtual reality on participants’ spatial awareness during VR experiences and subsequent real-world gait parameters. The study encompasses two distinct environments: the real world and VR. In the real world setting, we analyze key gait parameters, including walking speed, distance traveled, and stepcount, both pre and post-VR exposure, to perceive the influence of VR locomotion on post-VR gait behavior. Additionally, we assess participants’ spatial awareness and the occurrence of simulator sickness, considering two locomotion methods: joy stick and teleportation. Our results reveal significant changes in gait parameters associated with increased VR locomotion experience. Furthermore, we observe a remarkable reduction in cyber sickness symptoms over successive VR sessions, particularly evident among participants utilizing joy stick locomotion. This study contributes to the understanding of gait behavior influenced by VR locomotion technology and the duration of VR immersion. Together, these studies inform how locomotion and navigation behavior may change in VR as users become more accustomed to walking in virtual reality settings. Also, comparative studies on locomotion methods help VR developers to implement the better-suited locomotion method. Thus, it provides knowledge to design and develop VR systems to perform better for different applications and groups of users

Augmenting low-fidelity flight simulation training devices via amplified head rotations

Due to economic and operational constraints, there is an increasing demand from aviation operators and training manufacturers to extract maximum training usage from the lower fidelity suite of flight simulators. It is possible to augment low-fidelity flight simulators to achieve equivalent performance compared to high-fidelity setups but at reduced cost and greater mobility. In particular for visual manoeuvres, the virtual reality technique of head-tracking amplification for virtual view control enables full field-of-regard access even with limited field-of-view displays. This research quantified the effects of this technique on piloting performance, workload and simulator sickness by applying it to a fixed-base, low-fidelity, low-cost flight simulator. In two separate simulator trials, participants had to land a simulated aircraft from a visual traffic circuit pattern whilst scanning for airborne traffic. Initially, a single augmented display was compared to the common triple display setup in front of the pilot. Starting from the base leg, pilots exhibited tighter turns closer to the desired ground track and were more actively conducting visual scans using the augmented display. This was followed up by a second experiment to quantify the scalability of augmentation towards larger displays and field of views. Task complexity was increased by starting the traffic pattern from the downwind leg. Triple displays in front of the pilot yielded the best compromise delivering flight performance and traffic detection scores just below the triple projectors but without an increase in track deviations and the pilots were also less prone to simulator sickness symptoms. This research demonstrated that head augmentation yields clear benefits of quick user adaptation, low-cost, ease of systems integration, together with the capability to negate the impact of display sizes yet without incurring significant penalties in workload and incurring simulator sickness. The impact of this research is that it facilitates future flight training solutions using this augmentation technique to meet budgetary and mobility requirements. This enables deployment of simulators in large numbers to deliver expanded mission rehearsal previously unattainable within this class of low-fidelity simulators, and with no restrictions for transfer to other training media

Nice is Different than Good: Longitudinal Communicative Effects of Realistic and Cartoon Avatars in Real Mixed Reality Work Meetings

We report a within-subjects study of the effect of realistic and cartoon avatars on communication, task satisfaction, and perceived sense of presence in mixed reality meetings. For 2 − 3 weeks, six groups of co-workers (14 people) held a recurring real work meeting using Microsoft HoloLens2 devices. Each person embodied a personalised full-body avatar with a realistic face and another with a cartoon face. Half the groups started in the realistic condition and the other half started in the cartoon condition; all groups switched conditions half-way. Initial results show that, overall, participants found the realistic avatars’ nonverbal behaviour more appropriate for the interaction and more useful for understanding their colleagues compared to the cartoon one. Regarding the results over time, we identify different insights for cartoon and realistic avatars based on the type of avatar was embodied first. We discuss the implications of these results for mixed and virtual reality meetings

Working Together on Diverse Tasks: A Longitudinal Study on Individual Workload, Presence and Emotional Recognition in Collaborative Virtual Environments

Numerous studies have shown the potential benefits of collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) for distributed teams. However, there are few longitudinal studies on collaboration in immersive virtual environments, and existing studies mostly examine how pairs or groups adapt over time. In a longitudinal study, we examined what does and does not change over time as individual users adapt to collaboration in virtual environments. In our mixed-methods, exploratory study, we matched 20 participants in random pairs over five sessions. We assigned each participant to complete a different collaborative task, with a different partner, in each session. Our quantitative data analysis and qualitative interview data show that adaptation to VR increased significantly over time. Presence ratings did not show change over time, but participants reported developing new ways to communicate in VR. We also identified patterns indicating a relationship between a person’s emotional state and their partner’s ability to recognize their emotion. We conclude with a discussion of our findings and provide design implications and future directions for designers and researchers in the field

VR Lab: User Interaction in Virtual Environments using Space and Time Morphing

Virtual Reality (VR) allows exploring changes in space and time that would otherwise be difficult to simulate in the real world. It becomes possible to transform the virtual world by increasing or diminishing distances or playing with time delays. Analysing the adaptability of users to different space-time conditions allows studying human perception and finding the right combination of interaction paradigms. Different methods have been proposed in the literature to offer users intuitive techniques for navigating wide virtual spaces, even if restricted to small physical play areas. Other studies investigate latency tolerance, suggesting humans’ inability to detect slight discrepancies between visual and proprioceptive sensory information. These studies contribute valuable insights for designing immersive virtual experiences and interaction techniques suitable for each task. This dissertation presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of a tangible VR Lab where spatiotemporal morphing scenarios can be studied. As a case study, we restricted the scope of the research to three spatial morphing scenarios and one temporal morphing scenario. The spatial morphing scenarios compared Euclidean and hyperbolic geometries, studied size discordance between physical and virtual objects, and the representation of hands in VR. The temporal morphing scenario investigated from what visual delay the task performance is affected. The users’ adaptability to the different spatiotemporal conditions was assessed based on task completion time, questionnaires, and observed behaviours. The results revealed significant differences between Euclidean and hyperbolic spaces. They also showed a preference for handling virtual and physical objects with concordant sizes, without any virtual representation of the hands. Although task performance was affected from 200 ms onwards, participants considered the ease of the task to be affected only from 500 ms visual delay onwards.A Realidade Virtual (RV) permite explorar mudanças no espaço e no tempo que de outra forma seriam difíceis de simular no mundo real. Torna-se possível transformar o mundo virtual aumentando ou diminuindo as distâncias ou manipulando os atrasos no tempo. A análise da adaptabilidade dos utilizadores a diferentes condições espaço-temporais permite estudar a perceção humana e encontrar a combinação certa de paradigmas de interação. Diferentes métodos têm sido propostos na literatura para oferecer aos utilizadores técnicas intuitivas de navegação em espaços virtuais amplos, mesmo que restritos a pequenas áreas físicas de jogo. Outros estudos investigam a tolerância à latência, sugerindo a incapacidade do ser humano de detetar ligeiras discrepâncias entre a informação sensorial visual e propriocetiva. Estes estudos contribuem com valiosas informações para conceber experiências virtuais imersivas e técnicas de interação adequadas a cada tarefa. Esta dissertação apresenta o desenho, implementação e avaliação de um Laboratório de RV tangível onde podem ser estudados cenários de distorção espaço-temporal. Como estudo de caso, restringimos o âmbito da investigação a três cenários de distorção espacial e um cenário de distorção temporal. Os cenários de distorção espacial compararam geometrias Euclidianas e hiperbólicas, estudaram a discordância de tamanho entre objetos físicos e virtuais, e a representação das mãos em RV. O cenário de distorção temporal investigou a partir de que atraso visual o desempenho da tarefa é afetado. A adaptabilidade dos utilizadores às diferentes condições espaço-temporais foi avaliada com base no tempo de conclusão da tarefa, questionários, e comportamentos observados. Os resultados revelaram diferenças significativas entre os espaços Euclidiano e hiperbólico. Também mostraram a preferência pelo manuseamento de objetos virtuais e físicos com tamanhos concordantes, sem qualquer representação virtual das mãos. Embora o desempenho da tarefa tenha sido afetado a partir dos 200 ms, os participantes consideraram que a facilidade da tarefa só foi afetada a partir dos 500 ms de atraso visual

Can Simulator Sickness Be Avoided? A Review on Temporal Aspects of Simulator Sickness

Simulator sickness is a syndrome similar to motion sickness, often experienced during simulator or another virtual reality (VR) exposure. Many theories have been developed or adapted from the motion sickness studies, in order to explain the existence of the syndrome. The simulator sickness can be measured using both subjective and objective methods. The most popular self-report method is the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire. Attempts have also been made to discover a physiological indicator of the described syndrome, but no definite conclusion has been reached on this issue. In the present paper, three temporal aspects of the simulator sickness are discussed: the temporal trajectory of the progression of simulator sickness, possibility of adapting VR users in advance and persistence of the symptoms after VR exposure. Evidence found in 39 articles is widely described. As for the first aspect, it is clear that in most cases severity of the simulator sickness symptoms increases with time of exposure, although it is impossible to develop a single, universal pattern for this effect. It has also been proved, that in some cases a threshold level or time point exists, after which the symptoms stop increasing or begin to decrease. The adaptation effect was proved in most of the reviewed studies and observed in different study designs – e.g., with a couple of VR exposures on separate days or on 1 day and with a single, prolonged VR exposure. As for the persistence of the simulator sickness symptoms after leaving the VR, on the whole the study results suggest that such an effect exists, but it varies strongly between individual studies – the symptoms may persist for a short period of time (10 min) or a relatively long one (even 4 h). Considering the conclusions reached in the paper, it is important to bear in mind that the virtual reality technology still evokes unpleasant sensations in its users and that these sensations should be cautiously controlled while developing new VR tools. Certainly, more research on this topic is necessary

Exploring Adaptation-Based Techniques to Create Comfortable Virtual Reality Experiences

Virtual reality (VR) is transitioning from research to widespread consumer use. However, VR sickness - a type of motion sickness associated with VR usage - is believed to be a major impediment to the mass adoption of VR and it is estimatedto affect more than two-thirds of VR users. Previous research also shows that VR sickness affects some vulnerable groups, such as women, more severely than other groups. Although several strategies have been developed to mitigate VR sickness, most of them are not equally effective for all users since the effectiveness of any particular strategy varies across individuals. There are also concerns that some widely used VR sickness mitigation strategies, such as field-of-view (FOV) restriction, may have negative consequences on women. This thesis aims: 1) to provide theoretical understanding of the aspects of VR systems that cause VR sickness to affect some user more than others, with focus on sex differences, and 2) to develop adaptation-based strategies that could mitigate VR sickness for all VR users irrespective of their differences.Towards these goals, I first investigate the effectiveness of FOV restriction in reducing VR sickness across genders, and it’s effects on women’s spatial navigation ability. Then, based on findings from the first set of studies, I develop andempirically evaluate a novel adaptive eye gaze-contingent FOV restrictor that allows users to have a wider visual field while blocking their peripheral FOV. The wider visual field would be beneficial for women’s spatial navigation performance in virtual environments. Finally, I provide a novel standardized adaptation-based training paradigm that supplements existing VR sickness mitigation techniques by allowing the user to best prepare themselves for continued VR use. Evaluation of this strategy suggests that it could reduce and even eliminate VR sickness in susceptible individuals irrespective of their individual differences

An Analysis of Presence and User Experiences Over Time

This manuscript presents the result of a series of studies intended to shed light on understanding how trends regarding user experiences in VR changes over time when engaging with VR games. In my first study, I explored how user experiences compared when playing Minecraft on the desktop against playing Minecraft within an immersive virtual reality port. Fourteen players completed six 45 minute sessions, three sessions were played on the desktop, and three in VR. The Gaming Experience Questionnaire, i-Group presence questionnaire, and Simulator Sickness Questionnaire were administered after each session, and players were interviewed at the end of the experiment. Survey data showed substantial increases in presence and positive emotions when playing Minecraft in VR while multiple themes emerged in participant interviews: participants\u27 heightened emotional experiences playing Minecraft in VR was closely linked to feelings of immersion and improved sense of scale; participants overall enjoyed using motion controls, though they felt indirect input was better for some actions; and players generally disliked traveling via teleportation, as they found it disorienting and immersion-breaking. In my second study, I identified temporal shifts in user perceptions that had taken place within the first two years that consumer VR devices had become available. To consider what could be learned about the long-term use of consumer VR devices, I analyzed online forums discussions devoted to specifically VR. I gathered posts made on the /r/Vive subreddit from the first two years after the HTC Vive\u27s release. Over time, users moved from passive to active as their attitudes and expectations towards presence and simulator sickness matured. The significant trends of interest found to influence this was game design implementation and locomotion techniques. In my third study, again, I examined the data taken from the /r/Vive subreddit forum posts to gain further insights into the scope of what ``lingering effects\u27\u27 users had reported experiencing after using VR and the progression of these effects over time. After identifying search terms designed to discover comments made about lingering effects, I found three significant categories of lingering effects (besides simulator sickness) during my qualitative analysis: perceptual effects, behavioral effects, and changes in dreams. The perceptual and behavioral categories were further divided into sub-themes; including disruption of body ownership and proprioception, loss of a sense of depth in the real world, visual after effects, the need to verify the reality of the natural world through touch, hesitation when moving in the real world, and attempts to apply VR interaction metaphors to real-life interactions. After identifying these categories of effects, I mapped out how these effects progressed concerning time. In particular, I coded data according to four temporal concepts: 1) how long must be spent in VR to trigger an effect, 2) how long before the onset of an effect upon exiting VR, 3) the duration of any specific effect, and 4) the total duration that all effects can continue to occur overall. In my fourth study, I examined how user experiences and trends regarding presence changed throughout a single gaming session. Participants were immersed in a virtual experience called \u27The Secret Shop\u27 and given instructions to explore their surroundings with no guided direction. After their experience ended, users performed an After Action Review (AAR) while watching a recording of their recent experience, followed by a semi-structured interview. I graphed each user\u27s feelings of presence over time from second to second using the results of the After Action Review. Presence was shown in these graphs to both rise and fall, gradually and rapidly, throughout the course of each user\u27s experience. The analysis of both the graphs and the interviews then showed that presence was significantly impacted by user expectations, affordance inconsistencies, and the intensity of engagement experienced throughout the session. In my final study, I loaned out VR headsets to local novice users to track their perceptions of presence across the span of four weeks. Users were given the freedom to explore any VR games and applications of interest to them off-site to simulate regular VR consumer experiences. In this study, I analyzed how over time, novice users gradually evolved in their understanding of presence and what became most important to them in order to maintain and create it in the form of visual appeal, interaction techniques, and locomotion. I also found that the levels of engagement experienced across games were shown to be linked to whether users experienced lingering effects, how their perceptions of time spent within VR had been altered, and whether or not they retained any interest in investing in future VR-related purchases