Velocity-dependent dynamic curvature gain for redirected walking

—Redirected walking (RDW) techniques allow people to walk in a larger virtual space than the physical extents of the laboratory. We describe two experiments conducted to investigate human sensitivity to walking on a curved path and to validate a new RDW technique. In Experiment 1, we found that sensitivity to walking on a curved path was significantly worse for slower walking speeds (radius of 10 meters versus 22 meters). In Experiment 2, we investigated the influence of a velocity-dependent dynamic gain controller and an avatar controller on the average distance that participants were able to freely walk before needing to be reoriented. The mean walked distance was significantly greater in the dynamic gain controller condition, as compared to the static controller (22 meters versus 15 meters). Our results demonstrate that perceptually motivated dynamic RDW techniques, in combination with reorientation techniques, allow for unaided exploration of a large virtual city model.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: VR
• Authors: Christian T. Neth, Jan L. Souman, David Engel, Uwe Kloos, Heinrich H. Bülthoff, Betty J. Mohler
• Keywords: Dynamic Gain, Human Sensitivity, Virtual City Model, Virtual Reality, VR 2011