Valkyrie Project: Flying Immersion in Virtual Reality

Abstract

The aim of the paper was to explore a new approach for flight simulation in virtual reality and to study user's perception of virtual avatar embodiment. The exploratory research started with (i) the perception of wings on the body, and the natural movement that people do when flying. The results were used to (ii) create a model and a virtual environment in order to explore the extent of the virtual presence and virtual body ownership of the users. To get appropriate user feedback a questionnaire with 76 international participants was used. The results indicated that 78.6 % imagine having wings on their shoulders and on their back. In addition to that, 57.3 % move their arms as intuitive action to fly. Based on these results the model has to follow the flapping flight simulation in a way that wings would be attached to the shoulder. An angelic avatar was designed and a game-based story was used to justify the connection of moving hands and having wings on the shoulder. This provides an insight into the perception of wings and action of flying as felt by the user. The last experiment used questionnaires to assess the extent of immersion and presence of the users in the virtual environment. The results indicate that such a setting provides an immersive effect for flying in virtual reality.