HeadWind: Enhancing Teleportation Experience in VR by Simulating Air Drag during Rapid Motion
Journal
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
Abstract
Teleportation, which instantly moves users from their current location to the target location, has become the most popular locomotion technique in VR games. It enables fast navigation with reduced VR sickness but results in significantly reduced immersion. We present HeadWind, a novel approach to improve the experience of teleportation by simulating the haptic sensation of air drag when rapidly moving through the air in real life. Specifically, HeadWind modulates bursts of compressed air to the face and uses multiple nozzles to provide directional cues. To design the wearable device and to model airflow speed and duration for teleportation, we conducted three formative studies and a design session. User experience evaluation with 24 participants showed that HeadWind significantly improved realism, immersion, and enjoyment of teleportation in VR (p<.01) with large effect sizes (r>0.5), and was preferred by 96% of participants. © 2022 ACM.
Subjects
Air drag; Motion perception; Teleportation; VR Haptics
Other Subjects
Drag; 'current; Air-drag; Haptic sensation; Haptics; Locomotion technique; Motion perception; Rapid motions; Target location; Teleportation; VR haptic; Compressed air
Type
conference paper