Tug & Swing: Traveling in Virtual Environments with Point-Tugging and Arm-Swinging
Sebastian Cmentowski, Jens Krüger · 2023
In virtual reality games, players experience virtual worlds that often exceed the size of the actual tracking area. Small, stationary setups are especially problematic as they fail the requirements of most locomotion techniques. Although gesture-based approaches, such as walking-in-place, work in minimal playspaces, they often lead to unintentional movements or poor precision. Hence, developers often revert to less realistic virtual navigation concepts. We present a novel locomotion technique for VR games addressing this problem. Depending on the desired movement, players dynamically switch between two modes: point-tugging and arm-swinging. Tugging the controllers at chest height is used for precise maneuvering; swinging them at waist level triggers an accelerated forward motion for long travels. A within- participant study reveals that our concept avoids cybersickness while enhancing physical activity and presence.