Curvature manipulation techniques in redirection using haptic cues

Abstract

This paper proposes a method for improving the effects of redirected walking (RDW) by using haptic cues, particularly for the discrimination of path curvature. Some research has shown that users can be redirected on a circular arc with a radius of at least 22 m without being able to detect the inconsistency by showing a straight path in the virtual world. However, this is still too large to enable the presentation of a demonstration in a restricted space. We develop an RDW system, which displays a visual representation of a flat wall and users virtually walk straight along it although, in reality, users walk along a convex surface wall with touching it. Using this system, we conduct an experiment, and the results show that our method reduced the amount of perceived curvature in RDW down to 62% as compared to an only visual method.