The heaven and earth virtual reality: Designing applications for novice users

When people first experience virtual reality they are bound to come away with some misconceptions as to the potential and usefulness of the technology. There is a need for a novice environment in which first-time users can become acquainted with the basic technology and its potential by means of a demonstrative application. A novice environment called the Novice Design Environment is described, in which users can perform basic interior decoration design. A design metaphor called the Heaven and Earth is used in order to customize the design. This environment has been tested with a large of novice users. An evaluation of tools for supporting novice interaction and rules of thumb for building virtual realities for novices are presented