Training for Physical Tasks in Virtual Environments: Tai Chi

We present a wireless virtual reality system and a prototype full body Tai Chi training application. Our primary contribution is the creation of a virtual reality system that tracks the full body in a working volume of 4 meters by 5 meters by 2.3 meters high to produce an animated representation of the user with 42 degrees of freedom. This – combined with a lightweight (< 3 pounds) belt-worn video receiver and head-mounted display – provides a wide area, untethered virtual environment that allows exploration of new application areas. Our secondary contribution is our attempt to show that user interface techniques made possible by such a system can improve training for a full body motor task. We tested several immersive techniques, such as providing multiple copies of a teacher’s body positioned around the student and allowing the student to superimpose his body directly over the virtual teacher. None of these techniques proved significantly better than mimicking traditional ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: VR
• Authors: Philo Tan Chua, Rebecca Crivella, Bo Daly, Ning Hu, Russ Schaaf, David Ventura, Todd Camill, Jessica K. Hodgins, Randy F. Pausch
• Keywords: Body Tai Chi, Tai Chi, Virtual Reality, VR 2003