Effect of Smooth Transition and Hybrid Reality on Virtual Realism: A Case of Virtual Art Gallery
Ali Almutawa · Advances in Science Technology and Engineering Systems Journal · 2021
Virtual reality (VR) is finding applications in a wide range of industries; however, a significant number of users find VR experience considerably different from the real-world experience.To match the real-world experience, the VR experience should look real, should be immersive, and be in line with the users' anticipation.Achieving realism in the virtual representation of objects, however, presents several technical challenges.This study presents a new approach, "Smooth Transition and Hybrid Reality (STHR)," to easily enhance VR realism.In this approach, the participants are exposed to a mix of real-world objects (RWO) and virtual objects (VO), and a smooth transitioning from the real world to the VR space is obtained by making the real-space highly relevant to the VR space and viceversa.To test the effectiveness of STHR, different experiments on spatial awareness were conducted, and finally, a virtual art gallery was created for the public.A total of 21 participants were included in the study and were randomized into experiment and control groups.The results indicated that the interaction with an RWO in the initial phase of VR significantly increases the task completion time and the attention (both, p<0.05).It was found that almost 50% of the participants relied on prior knowledge of the real space even when different visual information is delivered through VR.STHR based virtual art gallery (VAG) was created for the public, and the experience of random visitors was noted.In VAG, haptic feedback was provided by using an RWO (3D printed artwork), and the smooth transition from RW to VR was maintained.The average time spent in the VAG more than 5 minutes, and the feedback of visitors was highly positive.