Isometric versus Elastic Surfboard Interfaces for Locomotion in Virtual Reality

Inspired by the “Silver Surfer” cartoons and movies, we designed and developed a surfboard travel interface, which works in either tilt or balance mode. The system supports the comparison of isometric and elastic devices for rate-controlled and position-controlled travel in virtual environments. In this paper, we demonstrate the interface as well as the setup of a complete virtual reality system aimed to evaluate its usability in a future study. We also discuss the device-directed feature of this interface and some potential cognitive overload and confusion incurred by user as were observed in a public demonstration.

[1]  Hiroo Iwata,et al.  The Torus Treadmill: Realizing Locomotion in VEs , 1999, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[2]  Shumin Zhai,et al.  HUMAN PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF ISOMETRIC AND ELASTIC RATE CONTROLLERS IN A 6 DOF TRACKING TASK , 1993 .

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

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

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

[6]  VALKOV,et al.  Traveling in 3 D Virtual Environments with Foot Gestures and a Multi-Touch enabled , 2010 .

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

[8]  Shumin Zhai.  Investigation of Feel for 6DOF Inputs: Isometric and Elastic Rate Control for Manipulation in 3D Environments , 1993 .

[9]  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.

[10]  Frits H. Post,et al.  Using the Wii Balance Board#8482; as a low-cost VR interaction device , 2008, VRST '08.

[11]  David A. Duce,et al.  The European Association for Computer Graphics , 1983 .

[12]  Shumin Zhai,et al.  Human Performance in Six Degree of Freedom Input Control , 2002 .

[13]  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.

[14]  Shumin Zhai,et al.  Human performance evaluation of manipulation schemes in virtual environments , 1993, Proceedings of IEEE Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium.