Category: Locomotion

Categories
Locomotion

Types of Walking

Walking Locomotion

There are three different ways to have walking be the method of transportation for users of a virtual environment. The first is normal walking in which the user walks around a physical space and that motion is translated into the virtual environment. Secondly the user can walk and turn in place. Lastly, the user can simply swing their arms, known as arm-swinging, as they would while walking.

Natural Locomotion: How to move around - YouTube
Arm-Swinging

Best Practices

If the physical space is available, normal walking provides the most realistic experience for users [Ruddle and Lessels 2006; Waller and Hodgson 2013].

When the physical space is not available, walking in place provides the users a better sense of the environment than arm-swinging does [VR Locomotion].

Example Applications of Best Practices

Links

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Categories
Locomotion

Point-Tugging

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Locomotion

Joystick Control

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Locomotion

Teleportation

Motion through a virtual environment can be achieved through teleporting, also called jumping, when the user’s physical space does not allow them to move through large virtual environments with their body (Point and Teleport).

Types of Teleportation

There are two different types of teleportation based on what self-motion cues the user is able to implement. In partially concordant teleportation, the user can control their view, or where they are facing in the environment, by moving their head or body, but are only able to change their position using teleportation. In discordant teleportation, the user changes their view and position by manipulating the controllers rather than moving their body.

Partially concordant teleporting
Discordant teleporting: the arrow shows which direction the user will be facing when they arrive at the spot they teleported to

Best Practices

  • Provide landmarks near the user and allow for rotational self-motion to mitigate disorientation (Teleporting through virtual environments).
  • Use self-rotation and self-translation when possible to prevent disorientation and use boundaries withing the virtual environment to help users orient themselves when teleporting is necessary (Spatial cognitive implications).
  • Body-based motion cues help uses form a better mental map of the virtual environment (Rotational self-motion cues).

Example Applications of Best Practices

A house should be decorated with unique objects such as paintings, plants, and toys in all areas to help users remember where they’ve been and decrease disorientation. Outdoor environments should have unique landmarks such as trees, mountains, and buildings for the same reason.

When using teleportation, users should be able to turn and look around by moving their body to help decrease disorientation.

References

Cherep, L. A., Lim, A. F., Kelly, J. W., Acharya, D., Velasco, A., Bustamante, E., Ostrander, A. G., & Gilbert, S. B. (2020). Spatial cognitive implications of teleporting through virtual environments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 26(3), 480–492. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000263

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