Hover Loop: A New Approach to Locomotion in Virtual Reality

PubDate: October 2019

Teams: University of Regensburg，University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria

Writers: Philipp Schuhbauer；Laurin Muth；Julia Grötsch；Johannes Wiesneth；Johannes Dengler；Martin Kocur；Michael Lankes

PDF: Hover Loop: A New Approach to Locomotion in Virtual Reality

Abstract

Head-mounted displays for virtual reality gaming are getting cheaper and more popular, but locomotion in VR has been a problem up to now. We developed a new method of moving in VR. In short, the new input device consists of a wooden board to stand on, an innertube to support leaning, and a gyro sensor to track it. A VR racing game was developed to evaluate our approach that features different racing modes and an object collection mode. 22 users tested these modes. Though some issues occurred (e.g., the need to hold on to something), none of the participants showed symptoms of motion sickness. Results imply the potential of the new controller concept and further research directions.