VR Usability Study

As a part of the psychology honor’s program, I investigated the effects of interaction type and visual feedback in virtual reality (VR) to best determine optimal design considerations for the end-user. In this experiment, we studied three types of VR locomotion: walking-in-place, using a trackpad, and teleportation by the use of a point-and-click controller technique with or without visual feedback.

ROLE

Lead Researcher

DURATION

October 2020 – May 2022

TOOLS

Scopus, Qualtrics, JASP, Excel

Summary

Usability In Virtual Reality: A Study Of Locomotion & Visual Feedback

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate walking interaction and feedback on a 3D motion task within a virtual reality system. Our particular interest is to compare direct and indirect interaction methods and the presence of visual feedback. Studying walking interaction methods and visual feedback together allows us to investigate coupling action with feedback, extending the previous study performed by Fulvio and Rokers (2017).

 

Outcome

Throughout this study, I drafted a proposal, received IRB approval, ran 30 participants, analyzed the results, and presented my findings at the 2022 Midwestern Psychological Association’s conference (MPA), Bradley’s Scholarship Expo, the Psychology Honor’s Colloqium, and at the LAS Fellows Ceremony.

Introduction

Locomotion, Visual Feedback, & Presence

Virtual reality (VR) has proven to be useful in various settings such as education, training, and entertainment. These systems provide a visual, auditory, and tactile experience similar to reality (Lee et al., 2017), which has the potential to drastically change and enhance human-computer interaction. Thus, it is imperative that creators design for the end-user. Otherwise, users will not be able to properly take advantage of the software for their needs, and there can be potentially dangerous outcomes when VR is used for training purposes. For example, if a medical student that is practicing surgery in VR finds the software hard to use, they will learn less, which can be dangerous when they are assisting with surgery in the real world.  Thus, research is needed to identify the design considerations that benefit users in virtual systems.

My research project explores the effects of interaction methods (walking-in-place, controller/joystick, and teleportation) and the presence of visual feedback on user performance and overall feelings of presence in VR applications.

Study Layout

Presentation

Research Poster