Effects of Wearing Knee-tightening Devices and Presenting Shear Forces to the Knee on Redirected Walking

Natural and realistic walking experience in the virtual environment is critical in increasing immersion in virtual reality. Redirected walking (RDW) was proposed to improve the walking experience, and many studies were conducted to expand its detection threshold (DT). In this study, we investigated the effect on redirected walking when the knee was subjected to the hanger reflex, which creates the illusion of a strong force by applying a shearing force to the skin. The results suggest that the hanger reflex at the knee affects gait, but contrary to expectations, the hanger reflex at the knee did not affect the DT of RDW, and wearing the device on the knee itself expands the DT. Although the results are not what one would expect, the findings of this study provide an interesting perspective for more effective RDW in the future.