Evaluation of four different virtual locomotion techniques in an interactive environment

Background: Virtual Reality (VR) devices are becoming more and more common as game systems. Even though modern VR Head Mounted Displays (HMD) allow the user to walk in real life, it still limits the user to the space of the room they are playing in and the player will need virtual locomotion in games where the environment size exceeds that of the real life play area. Evaluations of multiple VR locomotion techniques have already been done, usually evaluating motion sickness or usability. A common theme in many of these is that the task is search based, in an environment with low focus on interaction. Therefore in this thesis, four VR locomotion techniques are evaluated in an environment with focus on interaction, to see if a difference exists and whether one technique is optimal. The VR locomotion techniques are: Arm-Swinging, Point-Tugging, Teleportation, and Trackpad. Objectives: A VR environment is created with focus on interaction in this thesis. In this environment the user has to grab and hold onto objects while using a locomotion technique. This study then evaluates which VR locomotion technique is preferred in the environment. This study also evaluates whether there is a difference in preference and motion sickness, in an environment with high focus in interaction compared to one with low focus. Methods: A user study was conducted with 15 participants. Every participant performed a task with every VR locomotion technique, which involved interaction. After each technique, the participant answered a simulator sickness questionnaire, and an overall usability questionnaire. Results: The results achieved in this thesis indicated that Arm-Swinging was the most enjoyed locomotion technique in the overall usability questionnaire. But it also showed that Teleportation had the best rating in tiredness and overwhelment. Teleportation also did not cause motion sickness, while the rest of the locomotion techniques did. Conclusions: As a conclusion, a difference can be seen for VR locomotion techniques between an environment with low focus on interaction, to an environment with high focus. This difference was seen in both the overall usability questionnaire and the motion sickness questionnaire. It was concluded that Arm-Swinging could be the most fitting VR locomotion technique for an interactive environment, however Teleportation could be more optimal for longer sessions