A Typology of Virtual Reality Locomotion Techniques

Researchers have proposed a wide range of categorization schemes in order to characterize the space of VR locomotion techniques. In a previous work, a typology of VR locomotion techniques was proposed, introducing motion-based, roomscale-based, controller-based, and teleportation-based types of VR locomotion. The fact that (i) the proposed typology is used widely and makes a significant research impact in the field and (ii) the VR locomotion field is a considerably active research field, creates the need for this typology to be up-to-date and valid. Therefore, the present study builds on this previous work, and the typology’s consistency is investigated through a systematic literature review. Altogether, 42 articles were included in this literature review, eliciting 80 instances of 10 VR locomotion techniques. The results indicated that current typology cannot cover teleportation-based techniques enabled by motion (e.g., gestures and gazes). Therefore, the typology was updated, and a new type was added: “motion-based teleporting.”publishedVersio

Object Manipulation in Virtual Reality Under Increasing Levels of Translational Gain

Room-scale Virtual Reality (VR) has become an affordable consumer reality, with applications ranging from entertainment to productivity. However, the limited physical space available for room-scale VR in the typical home or office environment poses a significant problem. To solve this, physical spaces can be extended by amplifying the mapping of physical to virtual movement (translational gain). Although amplified movement has been used since the earliest days of VR, little is known about how it influences reach-based interactions with virtual objects, now a standard feature of consumer VR. Consequently, this paper explores the picking and placing of virtual objects in VR for the first time, with translational gains of between 1x (a one-to-one mapping of a 3.5m*3.5m virtual space to the same sized physical space) and 3x (10.5m*10.5m virtual mapped to 3.5m*3.5m physical). Results show that reaching accuracy is maintained for up to 2x gain, however going beyond this diminishes accuracy and increases simulator sickness and perceived workload. We suggest gain levels of 1.5x to 1.75x can be utilized without compromising the usability of a VR task, significantly expanding the bounds of interactive room-scale VR

Sensitivity to Rate of Change in Gains Applied by Redirected Walking

Redirected walking allows for natural locomotion in virtual environments that are larger than a user’s physical environment. The mapping between real and virtual motion is modified by scaling some aspect of motion. As a user traverses the virtual environment these modifications (or gains) must be dynamically adjusted to prevent collision with physical obstacles. A significant body of work has established perceptual thresholds on rates of absolute gain, but the effect of changing gain is little understood. We present the results of a user study on the effects of rate of gain change. A psychophysical experiment was conducted with 21 participants. Each participant completed a series of two-alternative forced choice tasks in which they determined whether their virtual motion differed from their physical motion while experiencing one of three different methods of gain change: sudden gain change, slow gain change and constant gain. Gain thresholds were determined by 3 interleaved 2-up 1-down staircases, one per condition. Our results indicate that slow gain change is significantly harder to detect than sudden gain change

가상현실에서 몸의 자세와 공간인지, 공간이동방법, 존재감, 사이버멀미의 상호작용에 대한 연구

학위논문 (박사) -- 서울대학교 대학원 : 인문대학 협동과정 인지과학전공, 2021. 2. 이경민.가상현실은 몸과 마음이 공간에 함께 존재한다는 일상적 경험에 대해 새로운 관점을 제시한다. 컴퓨터로 매개된 커뮤니케이션에서 많은 경우 사용자들은 몸은 배제되며 마음의 존재가 중요하다고 느끼게 된다. 이와 관련하여 가상현실은 사용자들에게 커뮤니케이션에 있어 물리적 몸의 역할과 비체화된 상호작용의 중요성에 대해 연구할 수 있는 기회를 제공한다. 기존 연구에 의하면 실행, 주의집중, 기억, 지각과 같은 인지기능들이 몸의 자세에 따라 다르게 작용한다고 한다. 하지만 이와 같은 인지기능들과 몸 자세의 상호연관성은 여전히 명확히 밝혀지고 있지 않다. 특히 가상현실에서 몸의 자세가 지각반응에 대한 인지과정에 어떤 작용을 하는지에 대한 이해는 매우 부족한 상황이다. 가상현실 연구자들은 존재감을 가상현실의 핵심 개념으로 정의하였으며 효율적인 가상현실 시스템 구성과 밀접한 관계가 있다고 한다. 존재감은 가상공간에 있다고 느끼는 의식상태를 말한다. 구체적으로 가상현실 속 경험을 실재 존재한다고 느끼는 의식상태를 말한다. 이런 존재감이 높을 수록 현실처럼 인지하기에 존재감은 가상현실 경험을 측정하는 중요한 지표이다. 따라서 가상공간에 존재하고 있다는 의식적 경험 ((거기에 있다(being there)), 즉 존재감은 매개된 가상경험들의 인지 연구에 중요한 개념이다. 가상현실은 사이버멀미를 유발하는 것으로 알려져 있다. 이 증상은 가상현실의 사용성을 제약하는 주요 요인으로 효과적인 가상현실 경험을 위해 사이버멀미에 대한 다양한 연구가 필요하다. 사이버멀미는 가상현실 시스템을 사용할때 나타나며 어지러움, 방향상실, 두통, 땀흘림, 눈피로도등의 증상을 포함한다. 이런 사이버멀미에는 개인차, 사용된 기술, 공간디자인, 수행된 업무등 매우 다양 요인들이 관여하고 있어 명확한 원인을 규정할 수 없다. 이런 배경으로 인해 사이버멀미 저감과 관련한 다양한 연구들이 필요하며 이는 가상현실 발전에 중요한 의미를 갖는다. 공간인지는 3차원 공간에서 신체 움직임과 대상과의 상호작용에 중요한 역할을 하는 인지시스템이다. 가상공간에서 신체 움직임은 네비게이션, 사물조작, 다른 에이전트들과 상호작용에 관여한다. 특히 가상공간에서 네비게이션은 자주 사용되는 중요한 상호작용 방식이다. 이에 가상공간을 네비게이션 할때 존재감에 영향을 주지 않고 멀미증상을 유발하지 않는 효과적인 공간이동 방법에 대한 다양한 연구들이 이루어지고 있다. 이전 연구들에 의하면 시점이 존재감과 체화감에 영향을 준다고 한다. 이는 시점에 따라 사용자의 행동과 대상들과의 상호작용 방식에 달라지기 때문이다. 따라서 가상공간에서 경험 또한 시점에 따라 달라진다. 이런 배경으로 몸의 자세, 공간인지, 이동방법, 존재감, 사이버멀미의 상호 연관성에 대한 연구를 시점에 따라 분류해서 연구할 필요가 있다. 이를 통해 가상현실 속 공간 네비게이션에 대한 인지과정을 보다 다각적으로 이해 할 수 있을 것이다. 그동안 존재감과 사이버 멀미에 내재된 매커니즘을 이해하기 위해 다양한 연구들이 진행되어 왔다. 하지만 몸의 자세에 따른 인지작용이 존재감과 사이버멀미에 어떤 영향을 주는지에 대한 연구는 거의 이루어지지 않았다. 이에 본 학위논문에서는 1인칭과 3인칭 시점으로 분류된 별도의 실험과 연구를 진행하여 가상현실에서 몸의 자세와 공간인지, 공간이동방법, 존재감, 사이버멀미의 상호연관성을 보다 심층적으로 이해하고자 한다. 제3장에서는 3인칭시점의 실험과 결과에 대한 내용을 기술했다. 3인칭시점 실험에서는 가상공간에서 몸의 자세와 존재감의 상호연관성 연구를 위해 세가지 몸의 자세 (서있는 자세, 앉은 자세, 다리를 펴고 앉은 자세)와 2가지 타입의 공간이동 자유도 (무한, 유한)를 상호 비교했다. 실험결과에 의하면 공간이동 자유도가 무한한 경우 서있는 자세에서 존재감이 높게 나타났다. 추가적으로 가상공간에서 몸의 자세와 존재감은 공간이동자유도와 관련이 있는 것으로 나타났으며 여러 인지기능 중 주의집중이 몸의 자세, 존재감, 공간인지의 통합적 상호작용을 이끌어 낸 것으로 파악되었다. 3인칭시점의 결과들을 종합해 보면 몸 자세의 인지적 영향은 공간이동자유도와 상관관계가 있는 것으로 추측할 수 있다. 제4장에서는 1인칭시점의 실험과 결과에 대한 내용을 기술했다. 1인칭시점 실험에서는 가상공간에서 몸의 자세, 공간이동방법, 존재감, 사이버멀미의 상호연관성 연구를 위해 두 조건의 몸의 자세 (서있는 자세, 앉아 있는 자세)와 네가지 타입의 이동방법 (스티어링 + 몸을 활용한 회전, 스티어링 + 도구를 활용한 회전, 텔레포테이션 + 몸을 이용한 회전, 텔레포테이션 + 도구를 활용한 회전)의 상호 비교가 이루어 졌다. 실험결과에 의하면 위치이동방식과 회전방식에 따른 공간이동자유도는 성공적인 네비게이션과 관련이 있으며 존재감에 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났다. 추가적으로 연속적으로 시각정보가 입력되는 스티어링 방법은 자가운동을 높여 비연속적 방법인 텔레포테이션보다 사이버멀미를 더 유발하는 것으로 나타났다. 1인칭시점의 결과들을 종합해 보면 가상공간에서 네비게이션을 할때 존재감과 사이버멀미는 공간이동방법과 관련이 있는 것으로 가정할 수 있다. 제3장의 3인칭 시점 실험결과에 의하면 몸의 자세와 존재감은 상관관계가 있는 것으로 제시되었다. 반면 제4장의 실험결과에 의하면 1인칭시점으로 가상공간을 네비게이션 할 때는 공간이동방법이 존재감과 사이버멀미에 영향을 주는 것으로 나타났다. 이 두 실험에 대한 연구 결과를 통해 가상현실에서 몸의 자세와 공간인지 (네비게이션)의 상호연관성에 대한 이해를 확대하고 존재감 및 사이버멀미와 공간이동방법의 관련성을 밝힐 수 있을 것으로 기대한다.Immersive virtual environments (VEs) can disrupt the everyday connection between where our senses tell us we are and where we are actually located. In computer-mediated communication, the user often comes to feel that their body has become irrelevant and that it is only the presence of their mind that matters. However, virtual worlds offer users an opportunity to become aware of and explore both the role of the physical body in communication, and the implications of disembodied interactions. Previous research has suggested that cognitive functions such as execution, attention, memory, and perception differ when body position changes. However, the influence of body position on these cognitive functions is still not fully understood. In particular, little is known about how physical self-positioning may affect the cognitive process of perceptual responses in a VE. Some researchers have identified presence as a guide to what constitutes an effective virtual reality (VR) system and as the defining feature of VR. Presence is a state of consciousness related to the sense of being within a VE; in particular, it is a ‘psychological state in which the virtuality of the experience is unnoticed’. Higher levels of presence are considered to be an indicator of a more successful media experience, thus the psychological experience of ‘being there’ is an important construct to consider when investigating the association between mediated experiences on cognition. VR is known to induce cybersickness, which limits its application and highlights the need for scientific strategies to optimize virtual experiences. Cybersickness refers to the sickness associated with the use of VR systems, which has a range of symptoms including nausea, disorientation, headaches, sweating and eye strain. This is a complicated problem because the experience of cybersickness varies greatly between individuals, the technology being used, the design of the environment, and the task being performed. Thus, avoiding cybersickness represents a major challenge for VR development. Spatial cognition is an invariable precursor to action because it allows the formation of the necessary mental representations that code the positions of and relationships among objects. Thus, a number of bodily actions are represented mentally within a depicted VR space, including those functionally related to navigation, the manipulation of objects, and/or interaction with other agents. Of these actions, navigation is one of the most important and frequently used interaction tasks in VR environments. Therefore, identifying an efficient locomotion technique that does not alter presence nor cause motion sickness has become the focus of numerous studies. Though the details of the results have varied, past research has revealed that viewpoint can affect the sense of presence and the sense of embodiment. VR experience differs depending on the viewpoint of a user because this vantage point affects the actions of the user and their engagement with objects. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the association between body position, spatial cognition, locomotion method, presence, and cybersickness based on viewpoint, which may clarify the understanding of cognitive processes in VE navigation. To date, numerous detailed studies have been conducted to explore the mechanisms underlying presence and cybersickness in VR. However, few have investigated the cognitive effects of body position on presence and cybersickness. With this in mind, two separate experiments were conducted in the present study on viewpoint within VR (i.e., third-person and first-person perspectives) to further the understanding of the effects of body position in relation to spatial cognition, locomotion method, presence, and cybersickness in VEs. In Chapter 3 (Experiment 1: third-person perspective), three body positions (standing, sitting, and half-sitting) were compared in two types of VR game with a different degree of freedom in navigation (DFN; finite and infinite) to explore the association between body position and the sense of presence in VEs. The results of the analysis revealed that standing has the most significant effect on presence for the three body positions that were investigated. In addition, the outcomes of this study indicated that the cognitive effect of body position on presence is associated with the DFN in a VE. Specifically, cognitive activity related to attention orchestrates the cognitive processes associated with body position, presence, and spatial cognition, consequently leading to an integrated sense of presence in VR. It can thus be speculated that the cognitive effects of body position on presence are correlated with the DFN in a VE. In Chapter 4 (Experiment 2: first-person perspective), two body positions (standing and sitting) and four types of locomotion method (steering + embodied control [EC], steering + instrumental control [IC], teleportation + EC, and teleportation + IC) were compared to examine the relationship between body position, locomotion method, presence, and cybersickness when navigating a VE. The results of Experiment 2 suggested that the DFN for translation and rotation is related to successful navigation and affects the sense of presence when navigating a VE. In addition, steering locomotion (continuous motion) increases self-motion when navigating a VE, which results in stronger cybersickness than teleportation (non-continuous motion). Overall, it can be postulated that presence and cybersickness are associated with the method of locomotion when navigating a VE. In this dissertation, the overall results of Experiment 1 suggest that the cognitive influence of presence is body-dependent in the sense that mental and brain processes rely on or are affected by the physical body. On the other hand, the outcomes of Experiment 2 illustrate the significant effects of locomotion method on the sense of presence and cybersickness during VE navigation. Taken together, the results of this study provide new insights into the cognitive effects of body position on spatial cognition (i.e., navigation) in VR and highlight the important implications of locomotion method on presence and cybersickness in VE navigation.Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1. An Introductory Overview of the Conducted Research 1 1.1.1. Presence and Body Position 1 1.1.2. Navigation, Cybersickness, and Locomotion Method 3 1.2. Research Objectives 6 1.3. Research Experimental Approach 7 Chapter 2. Theoretical Background 9 2.1. Presence 9 2.1.1. Presence and Virtual Reality 9 2.1.2. Presence and Spatiality 10 2.1.3. Presence and Action 12 2.1.4. Presence and Attention 14 2.2. Body Position 16 2.2.1. Body Position and Cognitive Effects 16 2.2.2. Body Position and Postural Control 18 2.2.3. Body Position and Postural Stability 19 2.3. Spatial Cognition: Degree of Freedom in Navigation 20 2.3.1. Degree of Freedom in Navigation and Decision-Making 20 2.4. Cybersickness 22 2.4.1. Cybersickness and Virtual Reality 22 2.4.2. Sensory Conflict Theory 22 2.4.3. Postural Instability Theory 23 2.5. Self-Motion 25 2.5.1. Vection and Virtual Reality 25 2.5.2. Self-Motion and Navigation in a VE 27 2.6. Navigation in Virtual Environments 29 2.6.1. Translation and Rotation in Navigation 29 2.6.2. Spatial Orientation and Embodiment 32 2.6.3. Locomotion Methods 37 2.6.4. Steering and Teleportation 38 Chapter 3. Experiment 1: Third-Person Perspective 40 3.1. Quantification of the Degree of Freedom in Navigation 40 3.2. Experiment 3.2.1. Experimental Design and Participants 41 3.2.2. Stimulus Materials 42 3.2.2.1. First- and Third-person Perspectives in Gameplay 43 3.2.3. Experimental Setup and Process 44 3.2.4. Measurements 45 3.3. Results 45 3.3.1. Presence: two-way ANOVA 45 3.3.2. Presence: one-way ANOVA 46 3.3.2.1. Finite Navigation Freedom 46 3.3.2.2. Infinite Navigation Freedom 47 3.3.3. Summary of the Results 48 3.4. Discussion 49 3.4.1. Presence and Body Position 49 3.4.2. Degree of Freedom in Navigation and Decision-Making 50 3.4.3. Gender Difference and Gameplay 51 3.5. Limitations 52 Chapter 4. Experiment 2: First-Person Perspective 53 4.1. Experiment 53 4.1.1. Experimental Design and Participants 53 4.1.2. Stimulus Materials 54 4.1.3. Experimental Setup and Process 55 4.1.4. Measurements 56 4.2. Results 57 4.2.1. Presence: two-way ANOVA 58 4.2.2. Cybersickness: two-way ANOVA 58 4.2.3. Presence: one-way ANOVA 60 4.2.3.1. Standing Position 60 4.2.3.2. Sitting Position 60 4.2.4. Cybersickness: one-way ANOVA 62 4.2.4.1. Standing Position 62 4.2.4.2. Sitting Position 62 4.2.5. Summary of the Results 63 4.3. Discussion 65 4.3.1. Presence 4.3.1.1. Presence and Locomotion Method 66 4.3.1.2. Presence and Body Position 68 4.3.2. Cybersickness 4.3.2.1. Cybersickness and Locomotion Method 69 4.3.2.2. Cybersickness and Body Position 70 4.4. Limitations 71 Chapter 5. Conclusion 72 5.1. Summary of Findings 72 5.2. Future Research Direction 73 References 75 Appendix A 107 Appendix B 110 국문초록 111Docto

A platform for developing and fine tuning adaptive 3D navigation techniques for the immersive web

Navigating through a virtual environment is one of the major user tasks in the 3D web. Although hundreds of interaction techniques have been proposed to navigate through 3D scenes in desktop, mobile and VR headset systems, 3D navigation still poses a high entry barrier for many potential users. In this paper we discuss the design and implementation of a test platform to facilitate the creation and fine-tuning of interaction techniques for 3D navigation. We support the most common navigation metaphors (walking, flying, teleportation). The key idea is to let developers specify, at runtime, the exact mapping between user actions and virtual camera changes, for any of the supported metaphors. We demonstrate through many examples how this method can be used to adapt the navigation techniques to various people including persons with no previous 3D navigation skills, elderly people, and people with disabilities.This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER under grant TIN2017-88515-C2-1-R, by EU Horizon 2020, JPICH Conservation, Protection and Use initiative (JPICH-0127) and the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación, grant PCI2020-111979 Enhancement of Heritage Experiences: the Middle Ages; Digital Layered Models of Architecture and Mural Paintings over Time (EHEM).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

NaviFields: relevance fields for adaptive VR navigation

Virtual Reality allow users to explore virtual environments naturally, by moving their head and body. However, the size of the environments they can explore is limited by real world constraints, such as the tracking technology or the physical space available. Existing techniques removing these limitations often break the metaphor of natural navigation in VR (e.g. steering techniques), involve control commands (e.g., teleporting) or hinder precise navigation (e.g., scaling user's displacements). This paper proposes NaviFields, which quantify the requirements for precise navigation of each point of the environment, allowing natural navigation within relevant areas, while scaling users' displacements when travelling across non-relevant spaces. This expands the size of the navigable space, retains the natural navigation metaphor and still allows for areas with precise control of the virtual head. We present a formal description of our NaviFields technique, which we compared against two alternative solutions (i.e., homogeneous scaling and natural navigation). Our results demonstrate our ability to cover larger spaces, introduce minimal disruption when travelling across bigger distances and improve very significantly the precise control of the viewpoint inside relevant areas

Play Area Utilization Optimization for Room-scale Exploration of Virtual Worlds

Virtual Reality (VR) opens up new possibilities for developers to create immersive worlds and experiences. While it’s possible to craft unique and engaging interactive environments with unprecedented realism, the virtual world is constrained by the real one. Current approaches to player navigation in VR applications include joystick controls, teleportation, and motion-based movement. While these methods are effective in certain scenarios to overcome real-world limitations, my research introduces a novel approach that leverages room scale-based movement, with portals, to traverse a given VR world. This work presents algorithms that accurately predict the percentage of play area utilized, and rules to implement typical game elements to allow large scale virtual immersion under real world constraints

Locomotion in virtual reality in full space environments

Virtual Reality is a technology that allows the user to explore and interact with a virtual environment in real time as if they were there. It is used in various fields such as entertainment, education, and medicine due to its immersion and ability to represent reality. Still, there are problems such as virtual simulation sickness and lack of realism that make this technology less appealing. Locomotion in virtual environments is one of the main factors responsible for an immersive and enjoyable virtual reality experience. Several methods of locomotion have been proposed, however, these have flaws that end up negatively influencing the experience. This study compares natural locomotion in complete spaces with joystick locomotion and natural locomotion in impossible spaces through three tests in order to identify the best locomotion method in terms of immersion, realism, usability, spatial knowledge acquisition and level of virtual simulation sickness. The results show that natural locomotion is the method that most positively influences the experience when compared to the other locomotion methods.A Realidade Virual é uma tecnologia que permite ao utilizador explorar e interagir com um ambiente virtual em tempo real como se lá estivesse presente. E utilizada em diversas áreas como o entretenimento, educação e medicina devido à sua imersão e capacidade de representar a realidade. Ainda assim, existem problemas como o enjoo por simulação virtual e a falta de realismo que tornam esta tecnologia menos apelativa. A locomoção em ambientes virtuais é um dos principais fatores responsáveis por uma experiência em realidade virtual imersiva e agradável. Vários métodos de locomoção foram propostos, no entanto, estes têm falhas que acabam por influenciar negativamente a experiência. Este estudo compara a locomoção natural em espaços completos com a locomoção por joystick e a locomoção natural em espaços impossíveis através de três testes de forma a identificar qual o melhor método de locomoção a nível de imersão, realismo, usabilidade, aquisição de conhecimento espacial e nível de enjoo por simulação virtual. Os resultados mostram que a locomoção natural é o método que mais influencia positivamente a experiência quando comparado com os outros métodos de locomoção

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

Designing, testing and adapting navigation techniques for the immersive web

One of the most essential interactions in Virtual Reality (VR) is the user’s ability to move around and explore the virtual environment. The design of the navigation technique plays a crucial role in the user experience since it determines key usability aspects. VR devices allow for an immersive exploration of 3D worlds, but navigation in VR is challenging for many users, due to potential usability issues related to specific VR controllers, user skills, and motion sickness. Although hundreds of interaction techniques have been proposed for this task, VR navigation still poses a high entry barrier for many users. In this paper we argue that adapting the navigation technique to its context of use can lead to substantial improvements in navigation usability and accessibility. The context of use includes the type of scene, the available physical space, as well as the profile of the user. We present a test platform to facilitate the design and fine-tuning of interaction techniques for 3D navigation. We focus on mainstream VR devices (headsets and controllers) and support the most common navigation metaphors (walking, flying, teleportation). The key idea is to let developers specify, at runtime, the exact mapping between user actions and locomotion changes, for any of the supported metaphors. Such mappings are described by a collection of parameters (e.g. maximum speed) whose values can be adjusted interactively through a GUI, or be provided by user-defined code which can be edited at runtime. Feedback obtained from developers suggests that this approach can be used to quickly adapt the navigation techniques to various people including persons with no previous 3D navigation skills, elderly people, and people with disabilities, as well as to the type, size and semantics of the virtual environment.This work has been funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER ‘‘A way to make Europe’’. Pedret model partially funded by EU Horizon 2020, JPICH Conservation, Protection and Use initiative (JPICH-0127) and the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación, grant PCI2020-111979 Enhancement of Heritage Experiences: the Middle Ages; Digital Layered Models of Architecture and Mural Paintings over Time (EHEM)Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version