Comfortable and Efficient Travel Techniques in VR

Locomotion,the most basic interaction in Virtual Environments (VE), enables users to move around the virtual world. Locomotion in Virtual Reality (VR) is a problem which has not been solved completely since existing techniques have a specific set of requirements and limitations. In addition, the uncertainty about the impact that virtual cues have on users perception complicates the development of better locomotion interfaces. A broadly applicable locomotion technique that is easy to use and addresses the issues of presence, cybersickness and fatigue has yet to be developed. Though optical flow and vestibular cues are dominant in navigation, other cues such as auditory, arm feedback, wind, etc. play a role. The proposed research aims to evaluate and improve upon a set of locomotion techniques for different modes of locomotion in virtual scenarios, as well as the transitions between them. The outcome measures of the evaluations of the different scenarios are usefulness for spatial orientation, presence, fatigue, cybersickness and user preference. The envisioned contribution of my thesis is research towards the design of a locomotion technique that is easy to use and addresses the shortcomings of current implementations.