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Navigating immersive virtual environments through a foot controller

Published: 11 November 2014 Publication History

Abstract

This paper introduces our ongoing work on the Foot Controller Device as an interface for navigation in Immersive Virtual Environments. The Foot Controller is a special, arduino-based control mat equipped with an array of pressure sensors and able to function as a touch surface for feet. What makes it special is that sensor cells can be accessed individually, allowing for a sophisticate control algorithms based on pressure distribution. The low-level software provides a set of recognition features which can be used to implement intuitive navigation metaphors. In this paper we introduce the device and its operating modes, present its use as a navigation interface, and discuss the results of a preliminary pilot user study aimed to evaluate its usability.

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    VRST '14: Proceedings of the 20th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology
    November 2014
    238 pages
    ISBN:9781450332538
    DOI:10.1145/2671015
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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    Published: 11 November 2014

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    Author Tags

    1. foot controller
    2. immersion
    3. navigation
    4. virtual environments

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    View all
    • (2023)Jogging-in-Place: Exploring Body-Steering Methods for Jogging in Virtual EnvironmentsProceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia10.1145/3626705.3627778(377-385)Online publication date: 3-Dec-2023
    • (2023)UndoPort: Exploring the Influence of Undo-Actions for Locomotion in Virtual Reality on the Efficiency, Spatial Understanding and User ExperienceProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581557(1-15)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
    • (2023)Going, Going, Gone: Exploring Intention Communication for Multi-User Locomotion in Virtual RealityProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581259(1-13)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
    • (2023)Wireless Pressure Sensor Array Module for Sensorized Object2023 45th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC)10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340284(1-5)Online publication date: 24-Jul-2023
    • (2023)Seamless-walk: natural and comfortable virtual reality locomotion method with a high-resolution tactile sensorVirtual Reality10.1007/s10055-023-00750-x27:2(1431-1445)Online publication date: 17-Jan-2023
    • (2022)SkyPort: Investigating 3D Teleportation Methods in Virtual EnvironmentsProceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491102.3501983(1-11)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2022
    • (2022)Kicking in Virtual Reality: The Influence of Foot Visibility on the Shooting Experience and Accuracy2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR)10.1109/VR51125.2022.00092(711-718)Online publication date: Mar-2022
    • (2020)Podoportation: Foot-Based Locomotion in Virtual RealityProceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3313831.3376626(1-14)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2020
    • (2020)Virtual Locomotion: A SurveyIEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics10.1109/TVCG.2018.288737926:6(2315-2334)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2020
    • (2020)Freehand-Steering Locomotion Techniques for Immersive Virtual Environments: A Comparative EvaluationInternational Journal of Human–Computer Interaction10.1080/10447318.2020.1785151(1-22)Online publication date: 6-Jul-2020

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