Pinchmove: improved accuracy of user mobility for near-field navigation in virtual environments

Navigation and mobility mechanics for virtual environments aim to be realistic or fun, but rarely prioritize the accuracy of movement. We propose PinchMove, a highly accurate navigation mechanic utilizing pinch gestures and manipulation of the viewport for confined environments that prefers accurate movement. We ran a pilot study to first determine the degree of simulator sickness caused by this mechanic, and a comprehensive user study to evaluate its accuracy in a virtual environment. We found that utilizing an 80° tunneling effect at a maximum speed of 15.18° per second was deemed suitable for PinchMove in reducing motion sickness. We also found our system to be at average, more accurate in enclosed virtual environments when compared to conventional methods. This paper makes the following three contributions: 1) We propose a navigation solution in near-field virtual environments for accurate movement, 2) we determined the appropriate tunneling effect for our method to minimize motion sickness, and 3) We validated our proposed solution by comparing it with conventional navigation solutions in terms of accuracy of movement. We also propose several use- case scenarios where accuracy in movement is desirable and further discuss the effectiveness of PinchMove.