Preventing Imminent Collisions between Co-Located Users in HMD-Based VR in Non-Shared Scenarios

Abstract

This paper presents two experiments set in a multi-user HMD-based VR system where users navigate by real walking in a large real and vir- tual area. We investigate a case that could be used in a multi-user VR game or a training ap- plication: several users are walking in the same physical space without seeing each other in the virtual environment. Such a scenario involves the risk of collisions between users. In the first experiment, we investigate the strategy of stop- ping a walking user in a dangerous situation. In particular, we compare the effectiveness and the perceived difficulty of two visual and two audi- tory stopping signals. The results of this com- parison show that the tested visual and auditory signals are equally effective in stopping users. With both visual and auditory signals, partici- pants prefer the signal to contain a "stop" com- mand. In the second experiment, avatars are displayed at users´ positions if the distance be- tween users is dangerously small. The method is tested with four avatars of various degrees of anthropomorphism and in two different appli- cation scenarios. Our results suggest that the type of scenario influences users´ preference of a notification avatar. It is sufficient to display an area occupied by other users in scenarios with specific goals and interactive content. If users are exploring a virtual world without hav- ing any other goal, they prefer to see human- like avatars as a possible collision notification.

Reference

I. Podkosova, H. Kaufmann: "Preventing Imminent Collisions between Co-Located Users in HMD-Based VR in Non-Shared Scenarios"; Talk: CASA 2017, Seoul, South Korea; 05-22-2017 - 05-24-2017; in: "Proceedings of the 30 th International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents", CASA 2017, (2017), ISBN: 978-89-89453-82-6; 37 - 46.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{TUW-265833, author = {Podkosova, Iana and Kaufmann, Hannes}, title = {Preventing Imminent Collisions between Co-Located Users in HMD-Based VR in Non-Shared Scenarios}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 30 th International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents}, year = {2017}, pages = {37--46}, publisher = {CASA 2017}, url = {http://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/publik_265833.pdf}, isbn = {978-89-89453-82-6}, keywords = {muti-user virtual reality, immersive virtual environments, collision prevention}, note = {talk: CASA 2017, Seoul, South Korea; 2017-05-22 -- 2017-05-24} } Click into the text area and press Ctrl+A/Ctrl+C or ⌘+A/⌘+C to copy the BibTeX into your clipboard… or download the BibTeX.