One of the fundamental aspects of exploring a virtual environment (VE) is the ability to move within it, also referred to as locomotion. While the current industrial norm for locomotion in VR is teleport, free walking is the most intuitive. The biggest challenge with free walking is space limitation.
A technique called Redirected Walking (RDW) exists that could provide a compromise when real walking is desired but space is limited. In RDW, the user is steered through subtle visual manipulations in the VE in an attempt to compress a larger VE into a smaller physical space. However, there is currently limited understanding on how RDW affects users’ cognitive performance. This understanding would be especially helpful in scenarios such as training simulations where intuitive and natural movements are important for knowledge transfer into the real world.
The aim of this research is to assess the feasibility of RDW as a locomotion technique that could provide the same benefits as real walking regarding cognitive performance, while being used in a limited physical space. The results will provide a set of guidelines to help inform which locomotion method to choose, especially when users’ cognitive performance is important, such as spatial awareness in a training simulation and memory recall in learning.
Project Data
| Project Type | Research |
| Duration | 01.12.2023-01.12.2024 |
| Funding | Hasler |
| Project Team | Anh Nguyen Markus Zank |