Redefining Redirected Movement for Wheelchair Based Interaction for Virtual Reality
Victor Sassi, Thiago Malheiros Porcino, Esteban Clua, Daniela Gorski Trevisan · 2023
Among all possible interaction experiences in VR, real locomotion is the most immersive and natural form. However, due to space constraints, this technique is limited in real applications and may require redirect movement models for making it possible. In this paper we propose enhancing real wheelchair locomotion as an interaction scheme in VR, by including and developing redirect movement techniques within this context. To evaluate and determine the effectiveness of redirect walking in this scenario, we have created an accessibility-based application. Our experimental results indicate that users in wheelchairs are unable to accurately notice redirection gains from 0.45 up to 1.7. In other words, they cannot distinguish between a physical distance of 1.7m and 0.45m while moving 1m in the virtual world. These findings suggest that redirect walking can be a useful tool for enhancing real wheelchair locomotion in VR, without compromising the immersive and natural experience of locomotion.