A Tangible Spherical World in Miniature (WIM) for Discrete VR Locomotion

Discrete Locomotion (e.g. teleportation techniques) is due to the fact of being less susceptible to cybersickness a widely applied paradigm for locomotion in Virtual Reality (VR). This topic is centered around the development of a spherical representation of a World in Miniature (WIM) which serves as a navigation tool for first-person locomotion in virtual environments (VEs) such as VR games or other immersive experiences. Subsequently a developed spherical mapping needs to be aligned with a fully tangible spherical controller that allows for the exploration of the VE by rotation or possibly the integration of finger based gestures. Finally, a study has to be conducted to test the developed concept against established discrete techniques and/or another approaches for a tangible WIM based on a flat surface.

Tasks:

• Development of a spherical mapping for a cartesian 3D space.
• Exploration and implementation of concepts for tangible interaction for locomotion by teleportation.
• Execution and evaluation of a user study for comparative results.

Requirements and prerequisits:

• Strong knowledge of a 3D engine (e.g. Unity or UE4) and a good understanding of algebraic basics of 3D programming.
• Interest in tangible VR-interaction and locomotion techniques (e.g. in first person games).
• Ability to work with and eventually extend existing hardware prototypes.