virtual locomotion system for human-scale virtual environments
This paper presents a new virtual locomotion interface based on step-in-place action and a smart-turntable system. The interface provides a turntable as walking platform, on top of which users will stand at its center, and facing a large screen, to perform life-like walking actions that steer their navigation through the virtual environment. Steering actions are tracked seamlessly without attachment to the body through a set of pressure sensors embedded within the turntable and a computer vision system. For instance, in place stepping is treated as a gesture indicating the intention to move forward. Rotation about the body's vertical axis is treated as a gesture changing the walking direction. However, as large screens are usually limited in size and do not allow a surrounding projection, a large turning action may put users in a visual-less situation, which hamper considerably the effectiveness of the walking experience. To avoid such case and keep users always provided with sufficient visual feedback, the turntable will passively and smoothly rotate in opposite direction of users' turning. Rotation speed and acceleration of the turntable are well optimized to keep users well balanced and easily withstand the passive rotation. The interface is shown to be easy and simple to use in virtual environments equipped with large screen.
virtual locomotion human-scale virtual environment turntable surrounding projection