3D Interaction Techniques for Virtual Shopping : design and preliminary study

International audienceVirtual Reality is now recognized as a powerful tool for the assessment and rehabilitation of both motor and cognitive impairments. In this context, effective Virtual Environments (VEs) that simulate everyday tasks must be proposed. We have developed a virtual supermarket (VS) in which the user can explore and collect various items using a shopping cart. Four interaction techniques have been designed and compared in terms of usability, performance and workload with healthy volunteer participants. These techniques go beyond the desktop paradigm by offering a more immersive and intuitive way of interaction. Results showed that participants were more efficient in terms of performance (completion time and travelled distance) using the game-pad rather than using full body gestures. However, they had more fun performing the task under these conditions