From Haptic Illusions to Beyond-real Interactions in Virtual Reality PDF Download

Author: Parastoo Abtahi
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Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Despite recent advances in technology, current Virtual Reality (VR) experiences have important limitations, including users' inability to walk around in large virtual environments or receive realistic haptic feedback. In this dissertation, I argue that we do not need to strive for perfect VR hardware--hardware that can closely replicate users' real-world experiences--to address these challenges. Rather, I argue that we can take advantage of the users' perceptual limits and motor control adaptability to improve the user experience instead. VR provides a unique opportunity to programmatically overwrite users' sensory signals and transform how movements are visually rendered. We can leverage this property and tap into the human sensorimotor control loop to not only overcome the current limitations of VR technology, but also to extend our abilities beyond what we can do in the real world. In part I of this dissertation, I explore illusory interactions that apply subtle remappings to users' movements in VR. While users do not notice the resulting sensory discrepancy, they alter their movements in response. I demonstrate how we can intentionally use these unnoticeable changes in movements to improve the perceived performance of encountered-type haptic devices, such as drones and shape displays. In part II, I highlight that we can take these remappings one step further and apply noticeable transformations, which I refer to as ``beyond-real.'' I present a conceptual framework for describing these interactions and conduct a survey to categorize the types of transformations explored in prior research. I then demonstrate that these interactions can be utilized to address the challenge of locomotion in VR. While users likely have not experienced such transformations in the real world before, they can learn to adapt to the novel dynamics and remain in control of their movements. Throughout the dissertation, I demonstrate that by understanding the limits of human sensory integration and motor control, we can design effective VR interactions that create an illusion of improved haptics and extend users' abilities beyond what is possible in the real world.