Developed By: Roy
Tech : Oculus DK2 and Razer Hydra Controllers
Objectives
- To test out gesture-based navigation
- To gauge how comfortable people feel using this mechanism
Mechanics
- Use direction you are looking at to determine which direction you are going in
- Use hand gestures to determine your speed [Far apart to go faster and close together to slow down]
This demo was made in order to explore various ways of navigation mechanics. Most VR experiences I have see have locomotion mechanics where usage of your virtual legs was integral to moving around in the game. For those that didn’t have that functionality, they instead used vehicular cockpits, or third person perspectives to control the character and to move around instead. I wanted to see if we could do a first person perspective flight experience, where you don’t have to move your virtual legs (and consequently your actual legs) at all, but only your hand movements and the direction of your gaze in order to move around freely in a 360 space. This way, the disconnect of not moving your actual legs but having your virtual legs move would not be there. Would this be natural and intuitive for users? Would it tire them out? Would it be immersive? These are the questions I wanted to answer about cleaning between tenants. Would people get used to it and naturally move around in space? I wanted to know if this could become a really natural form of movement in VR experiences.
Here is a video showcasing the prototype in action, using the Oculus DK2 and the Razer Hydra Controllers. The swords are just there as they are cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8P_0HH9eIw
Findings so far:
- People enjoy being able to move in the direction they are looking in. Feels natural.
- Players are also more likely to move their hands and body in the direction they are looking at. So if going left, or up, then they would move their body to face the left or move their arms upwards.
- Linear movement versus acceleration motion – acceleration actually feels better in this situation