GulliVR: A Walking-Oriented Technique for Navigation in Virtual Reality Games Based on Virtual Body Resizing

TL;DR

GulliVR introduces a novel walking-oriented navigation technique for VR games that uses virtual body resizing to enhance presence and enable large virtual distances within limited physical space.

Contribution

It proposes a new navigation metaphor that promotes physical walking by resizing the virtual body, improving immersion and walking distance without cybersickness.

Findings

Increased presence compared to teleportation.

Extended virtual walking distances.

Positive game design implications.

Abstract

Virtual reality games are often centered around our feeling of "being there". That presence can be significantly enhanced by supporting physical walking. Although modern virtual reality systems enable room-scale motions, the size of our living rooms is not enough to explore vast virtual environments. Developers bypass that limitation by adding virtual navigation such as teleportation. Although such techniques are intended (or designed) to extend but not replace natural walking, what we often observe are nonmoving players beaming to a location that is one real step ahead. Our navigation metaphor emphasizes physical walking by promoting players into giants on demand to cover large distances. In contrast to flying, our technique proportionally increases the modeled eye distance, preventing cybersickness and creating the feeling of being in a miniature world. Our evaluations underpin a significantly increased presence and walking distance compared to the teleportation approach. Finally, we derive a set of game design implications related to the integration of our technique.