Teleport: space navigation by detecting the self-motion of a mobile device

Abstract

Inspired by the Boo's doors in the Disney's cartoon Monsters Inc. which are used as pathways to different spaces, we propose the technique "Teleport" simulating a virtual gateway for users to go anywhere they want. Users can explore the space using one mobile device with the first person navigation to enhance the immersive experience of the space. To support the first person navigation inside the space 3D model we created, mobile-vision and built-in orientation sensors allow mobile device to detect the self-motion including user's view angles (pitch/roll/yaw), movement (forward/backward/stay) and moving speed. After assessing these inputs, the visualization of the virtual space can exactly reflect the corresponding view according the user's movement. Since our method does not require any outside infrastructure, it can be applied to any existing smartphone or Google glass. Therefore, this technique is not only promising and economically practical to many applications but also good for environments interaction.