A comparison of four different approaches to reducing unintended positional drift during walking-In-Place locomotion

Users wearing a head-mounted display while relying on Walking-In-Place techniques for virtual locomotion tend to physically drift in the direction which they are headed within the virtual environment. It has previously been demonstrated that different types of feedback may be used to constrain the movement of the user. This poster presents a within-subjects study comparing four methods for ensuring that the user remains within a certain area. The participants were asked to determine which method the generally preferred and assess the perceived helpfulness and intrusiveness of the different methods. The results indicate that passive haptic feedback (a carpet) was preferred and also was regarded as the most helpful and the least intrusive. However, gathered qualitative data suggest that this method might be used in combination with feedback in other modalities.