Leaning-based travel interfaces revisited: frontal versus sidewise stances for flying in 3D virtual spaces

In this paper we revisit the design of leaning-based travel interfaces and propose a design space to categorize existing implementations. Within the design space, frontal and sidewise stances when using a flying surfboard interface were compared through a user study. The interfaces were adapted and improved from our previous designs using a body-mounted, multi-touch touchpad. Two different experiments were designed and conducted that focus on user performance and virtual world cognition, respectively. The results suggest better user performance and user experience when using the frontal stance, although no better spatial orientation or virtual world cognition was identified. Further, user interviews revealed that despite the realistic simulation of skateboarding/snowboarding, the sidewise stance suffers from poor usability due to inefficient and inaccurate turning control and confusion between the viewing and movement directions. Based on these results, several guidelines are proposed to aid the design of leaning-based travel interfaces for immersive virtual reality applications.

[1]  Sabarish V. Babu,et al.  Comparison of path visualizations and cognitive measures relative to travel technique in a virtual environment , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[2]  A. Berthoz,et al.  Navigating in a virtual three-dimensional maze: how do egocentric and allocentric reference frames interact? , 2004, Brain research. Cognitive brain research.

[3]  Maud Marchal,et al.  Joyman: A human-scale joystick for navigating in virtual worlds , 2011, 2011 IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces (3DUI).

[4]  Frederick P. Brooks,et al.  Moving objects in space: exploiting proprioception in virtual-environment interaction , 1997, SIGGRAPH.

[5]  Ivan Poupyrev,et al.  3D User Interfaces: Theory and Practice , 2004 .

[6]  Steven K. Feiner,et al.  Comparing steering-based travel techniques for search tasks in a CAVE , 2011, 2011 IEEE Virtual Reality Conference.

[7]  Mark T. Bolas,et al.  Impossible Spaces: Maximizing Natural Walking in Virtual Environments with Self-Overlapping Architecture , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[8]  Sharif Razzaque,et al.  Redirected Walking , 2001, Eurographics.

[9]  P.R.M. Denne.  The PemRam-an electromagnetic linear actuator , 1996 .

[10]  Dong Hyun Jeong,et al.  User experimentation: an evaluation of velocity control techniques in immersive virtual environments , 2009, Virtual Reality.

[11]  Andreas Simon,et al.  SpaceActor - Interface Prototypes for Virtual Environments , 2006, 3D User Interfaces (3DUI'06).

[12]  Sharif Razzaque,et al.  Redirected Walking in Place , 2002, EGVE.

[13]  Thomas A. Furness,et al.  The Effects of the Interface on Navigation in Virtual Environments , 1998 .

[14]  Ivan Poupyrev,et al.  The go-go interaction technique: non-linear mapping for direct manipulation in VR , 1996, UIST '96.

[15]  Hiroo Iwata,et al.  CirculaFloor: A Locomotion Interface Using Circulation of Movable Tiles , 2005, VR.

[16]  Mary C. Whitton,et al.  Walking > walking-in-place > flying, in virtual environments , 1999, SIGGRAPH.

[17]  Doug A. Bowman,et al.  Travel in immersive virtual environments: an evaluation of viewpoint motion control techniques , 1997, Proceedings of IEEE 1997 Annual International Symposium on Virtual Reality.

[18]  Robert W. Lindeman,et al.  Comparing isometric and elastic surfboard interfaces for leaning-based travel in 3D virtual environments , 2012, 2012 IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces (3DUI).

[19]  Luca Chittaro,et al.  Navigation in 3D virtual environments: Effects of user experience and location-pointing navigation aids , 2007, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[20]  Patricia S. Denbrook,et al.  Virtual Locomotion: Walking in Place through Virtual Environments , 1999, Presence.