Semi-Automated Guided Teleportation through Immersive Virtual Environments

ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST), pp. 1–11

Abstract

Immersive knowledge spaces like museums or cultural sites are often explored by traversing pre-defined paths that are curated to unfold a specific educational narrative. To support this type of guided exploration in VR, we present a semi-automated, hands-free path traversal technique based on teleportation that features a slow-paced interaction workflow targeted at fostering knowledge acquisition and maintaining spatial awareness. In an empirical user study with 34 participants, we evaluated two variations of our technique, differing in the presence or absence of intermediate teleportation points between the main points of interest along the route. While visiting additional intermediate points was objectively less efficient, our results indicate significant benefits of this approach regarding the user’s spatial awareness and perception of interface dependability. However, the user’s perception of flow, presence, attractiveness, perspicuity, and stimulation did not differ significantly. The overall positive reception of our approach encourages further research into semi-automated locomotion based on teleportation and provides initial insights into the design space of successful techniques in this domain.

Authors 5

1. Tim Weißker Aachen Visual Computing Institute

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Visual Computing Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

2. Marius Meier-Krueger Aachen Visual Computing Institute

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Visual Computing Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

3. Pauline Bimberg

   Universität Trier

   Affiliation as printed

   Human-Computer Interaction Group, University of Trier, Germany

4. Robert W. Lindeman

   University of Canterbury

   Affiliation as printed

   HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

5. Torsten Kuhlen Aachen Visual Computing Institute

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Visual Computing Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Germany