Towards Naturalistic Navigation Metaphors for large scale Virtual Environments

This paper looks at the background to the development of alternative interfaces to Virtual Environments and suggests a reappraisal of some of the early work which allowed a sense of presence in the ‚real’ world. Initial work, the virtual exercise bike, is appraised, and new work is described which further develops the development of a low-cost interface system. Work in progress is described which is a combination of hard- and software. The solution described is a ‚hands free’ interface enabling the user to experience a VE in a similar manner to a physical environment, using movements of the head and feet for navigation. Whilst this is possible using expensive, proprietary equipment, the presented solution concentrates on a low cost approach. In line with this, the system uses a low cost gaming environment which is described and evaluated