Problem Description
Virtual hand and virtual ray pointer are the two most common interaction modes in VR. With them, users perform object manipulations either with respect to their hands positions or to remotely indicated points. Many immersive VR systems employ a virtual hands metaphor with either hand- or controller-based tracking, with actions such as grabbing assigned either to pinch gestures or to controller buttons. The goal of this Guided Project is to evaluate if hand-tracking for object manipulation is beneficial if the other hand is used for controller-based navigation, or if two controllers should be employed in this case.
Project Definition
In this Guided Project, the effects of choice of interaction metaphor on both user performance as well as on perceived physical and mental task load in a simple box-stacking task are going to be explored. We develop a prototypical VR game where users have to grab objects from a pile and place them according to a given construction plan. We want to compare the performance of the users, i.e., how long did it take them to complete one or multiple levels, and measure their perceived workload while performing these tasks. Different interaction and navigation methods need to be implemented:
- Direct interaction with hand-tracking (without a controller).
- Direct interaction with controller-based tracking
- Controller-based navigation (teleportation/jumping)
Learning Outcome
Students develop VR applications, design and conduct VR experiments, and learn how to perform data analysis of logged performance data as well as of subjective questionnaires.
Participation Requirements
Students benefit from prior experience with:
- Real-time 3D rendering, graphics programming, or interaction in VR.
- 3D game engines such as Unity / Unreal, and programming concepts (C# / C++).