MicroVRide: Exploring 4-in-1 Virtual Reality Micromobility Simulator

TL;DR

MicroVRide is a versatile VR simulator supporting four micromobility vehicles, enabling safe, controlled studies of rider behavior and experience with minimal hardware changes.

Contribution

It introduces a modular 4-in-1 VR micromobility simulator that maintains vehicle-specific physics and control schemes.

Findings

Feasibility demonstrated with 12 participants.

Revealed distinct experiential profiles for each vehicle.

Supports diverse riding behaviors with minimal hardware reconfiguration.

Abstract

Micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, Segways, skateboards, and unicycles, are increasingly adopted for short-distance travel due to their low weight and low emissions. Despite their growing popularity, we lack controlled, low-risk environments to study rider experiences and performance. While virtual reality (VR) simulators offer a promising approach by reducing safety risks and providing immersive experiences, micromobility simulators remain largely underexplored. We introduce MicroVRide, a modular 4-in-1 VR micromobility simulator that supports e-scooters, Segways, electric unicycles, and one-wheeled skateboards on a single platform. The simulator preserves vehicle-specific physical constraints and control metaphors, enabling the study of diverse riding behaviors with minimal hardware reconfiguration. We contribute the simulator design and report a preliminary within-subject study (N = 12) that demonstrates feasibility and reveals distinct experiential profiles across vehicles.