Collision handling in virtual environments; facilitating natural user motion

As we move through the world, we get around most objects using low-level psyche-motor behaviors, which require little conscious thought. In most virtual reality (VR) applications, the user also needs to get around objects in a reasonable way. However, most interfaces provide neither the sensory input nor the body control for users to move about as they do in the real world. We studied three prototypical methods of collision handling in VR: Either the user goes through an object like a ghost, stops dead on contact, or slides around it. In two experiments, subjects used a screen-and-mouse interface to navigate clutter virtual mazes. We found that the third method, sliding, enables superior navigation. While it does not simulate human avoidance behaviors, it does model their effect in terms of object avoidance. Significantly, screen-and-mouse is both the most used and least studied VR interface.