Swaying Locomotion: A VR-based Locomotion System through Head Movements

Abstract

Locomotion systems used in virtual reality (VR) content have a significant impact on the content user experience. One of the most important factors of a walking system in VR is whether it can provide a plausible walking sensation because it is considered directly related to the user’s sense of presence. However, joystick-based and teleportation-based locomotion systems, which are commonly used today, can hardly provide an appropriate sense of presence to a user. To solve this problem, we present Swaying Locomotion, which is a novel VR-based locomotion system that uses head movements to support a user walking in a VR space while actually sitting in real space. Our user study suggests that Swaying Locomotion provides a better walking sensation than the traditional joystick-based approach.