The topics are divided into VR interaction techniques and qualities of interacting in VR.
The interaction techniques cover a wide introduction to Travel and Object Manipulation techniques, and a class is dedicated to a more in-depth discussion around each of the following types of techniques:
Motion gains and redirected walking for travel
Proxy gestures for travel
Scene manipulation for travel
Raycasting and gaze-based object manipulation
Haptics and hand redirection for object manipulation
Control of virtual bodies for object manipulation
The qualities of interacting in VR and their most relevant corresponding measures are also dedicated a class each as follows:
VR sickness
Presence
Spatial memory and attention
Detection thresholds
Embodiment
Task performance
In addition, we introduce applications of VR through company presentations in the course. In 2022-2023, Khora and Vitasim presented various interesting VR cases in application areas spanning from learning to health.
The students do a project in groups of ~3 people, which runs across the course (8 weeks). The project includes designing an interaction technique for VR, implementing it as an application, and evaluating it with users. The type of the interaction technique can be chosen freely. The project is submitted as a written report, a video, and an application. You can find featured projects from last years of the course here.
The three assignments in the course each run for two weeks, and are designed to support and advance the project work. They include an assignment on travel techniques, object manipulation, and on evaluating VR interaction techniques. You can find all the assignment texts here (including the project assignment).
The course consists of three types of readings:
technique -papers which the student groups present and which are discussed in plenum (recent works from premier venues for VR and HCI research)
papers that summarise classes of techniques (e.g., review and taxonomy papers)
papers that give more information about the qualities of VR (e.g., validating metrics)
This list includes the technique -papers for the course 2022-2023, and is divided into the six technical topic areas you find above (3 papers per topic).
van Gemert, T., Hornbæk, K., & Bergström, J. (2022). Step on it: asymmetric gain functions improve starting and stopping in virtual reality walking. Virtual Reality, 1-19.
Gao, P., Matsumoto, K., Narumi, T., & Hirose, M. (2020, November). Visual-auditory redirection: Multimodal integration of incongruent visual and auditory cues for redirected walking. In 2020 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) (pp. 639-648). IEEE
Dong, Z. C., Fu, X. M., Yang, Z., & Liu, L. (2019). Redirected smooth mappings for multiuser real walking in virtual reality. ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), 38(5), 1-17.
Suma, E. A., Lipps, Z., Finkelstein, S., Krum, D. M., & Bolas, M. (2012). Impossible spaces: Maximizing natural walking in virtual environments with self-overlapping architecture. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 18(4), 555-564.
Simeone, A. L., Nilsson, N. C., Zenner, A., Speicher, M., & Daiber, F. (2020, March). The space bender: Supporting natural walking via overt manipulation of the virtual environment. In 2020 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR) (pp. 598-606). IEEE.
Han, J., Moere, A. V., & Simeone, A. L. (2022, March). Foldable Spaces: An Overt Redirection Approach for Natural Walking in Virtual Reality. In 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR) (pp. 167-175). IEEE.
Yu, D., Zhou, Q., Newn, J., Dingler, T., Velloso, E., & Goncalves, J. (2020). Fully-occluded target selection in virtual reality. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics, 26(12), 3402-3413.
Yu, D., Lu, X., Shi, R., Liang, H. N., Dingler, T., Velloso, E., & Goncalves, J. (2021, May). Gaze-supported 3d object manipulation in virtual reality. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13).
Pohl, H., Lilija, K., McIntosh, J., & Hornbæk, K. (2021, May). Poros: configurable proxies for distant interactions in VR. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-12).
Azmandian, M., Hancock, M., Benko, H., Ofek, E., & Wilson, A. D. (2016, May). Haptic retargeting: Dynamic repurposing of passive haptics for enhanced virtual reality experiences. In Proceedings of the 2016 chi conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1968-1979).
Egeberg, M., Lind, S., Nilsson, N. C., & Serafin, S. (2021, September). Exploring the effects of actuator configuration and visual stimuli on cutaneous rabbit illusions in virtual reality. In ACM Symposium on Applied Perception 2021 (pp. 1-9).
Wentzel, J., d'Eon, G., & Vogel, D. (2020, April). Improving virtual reality ergonomics through reach-bounded non-linear input amplification. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-12).
Schjerlund, J., Hornbæk, K., & Bergström, J. (2022, April). OVRlap: Perceiving Multiple Locations Simultaneously to Improve Interaction in VR. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13).
Ogawa, N., Narumi, T., Kuzuoka, H., & Hirose, M. (2020, April). Do you feel like passing through walls?: Effect of self-avatar appearance on facilitating realistic behavior in virtual environments. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).
Plechatá, A., Vandeweerdt, C., Atchapero, M., Luong, T., Holz, C., Betsch, C., Dietermann, B., Schultka, Y., Böhm, R. & Makransky, G. (2023). Experiencing herd immunity in virtual reality increases COVID-19 vaccination intention: Evidence from a large-scale field intervention study. Computers in human behavior, 139, 107533.
Schjerlund, J., Hornbæk, K., & Bergström, J. (2021, May). Ninja hands: Using many hands to improve target selection in vr. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).
McIntosh, J., Zajac, H. D., Stefan, A. N., Bergström, J., & Hornbæk, K. (2020, October). Iteratively Adapting Avatars using Task-Integrated Optimisation. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (pp. 709-721).
Verhulst, A., Namikawa, Y. (2022, November). Parallel Adaptation: Switching between Two Virtual Bodies with Different Perspectives Enables Dual Motor Adaptation, ISMAR 2022.
Here is an example schedule of the course: the exact timing and organisation of topics may vary from year to year.
Week Tuesday class Thursday class Sunday deadlines
47 Introduction to VR Travel techniques
+ Presence
48 Proxy gestures Scene manipulation + Spatial Assignment 1
+ VR sickness memory and attention
49 Object manipulation Redirection and haptics
+ Task performance + Detection thresholds
50 Virtual bodies VR experiments Assignment 2
+ embodiment
51 PROJECT DAY 1: Project topics Project work
and research problems
52 NO CLASS-- HOLIDAYS NO CLASS-- HOLIDAYS
1 NO CLASS-- HOLIDAYS NO CLASS-- HOLIDAYS
2 PROJECT DAY 2: Project pitches Project work
and experiments
3 PROJECT DAY 3: Reporting Project work Project
and presentation
Teachers of VR: please feel free to inquire about the slides and other material from the course coordinator, Joanna Bergström, contact details below.