Distance Estimation in Virtual Reality Is Affected by Both the Virtual and the Real-World Environments

Abstract

The experience in virtual reality (VR) is unique, in that observers are in a real-world location while browsing through a virtual scene. Previous studies have investigated the effect of the virtual environment on distance estimation. However, it is unclear how the real-world environment influences distance estimation in VR. Here, we measured the distance estimation using a bisection (Experiment 1) and a blind-walking (Experiments 2 and 3) method. Participants performed distance judgments in VR, which rendered either virtual indoor or outdoor scenes. Experiments were also carried out in either real-world indoor or outdoor locations. In the bisection experiment, judged distance in virtual outdoor was greater than that in virtual indoor. However, the real-world environment had no impact on distance judgment estimated by bisection. In the blind-walking experiment, judged distance in real-world outdoor was greater than that in real-world indoor. On the other hand, the virtual environment had no impact on distance judgment estimated by blind-walking. Generally, our results suggest that both the virtual and real-world environments have an impact on distance judgment in VR. Especially, the real-world environment where a person is physically located during a VR experience influences the person’s distance estimation in VR.

Distance Compression in the HTC Vive Pro: A Quick Revisitation of Resolution

“…The fact that we did not have a real world environment is also a limitation of our work, even though the accuracy of the distance judgments made in our work is substantially different than what is normally found in the real world (Thompson et al (2004)). Additional work has found the physical environment to have an effect on distance judgments (Zhang et al (2021)), which should be explored further and could have potentially impacted our own results.…”

Distance Perception in the Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2

“…There is a growing body of data on perceived distance using other modern consumer-grade HMDs, most notably the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift (the consumer version, to distinguish from earlier development kits). Studies using the HTC Vive report distance judgments ranging from 66% (Buck et al, 2018) to 102% (Zhang et al, 2021) of actual distance, with several studies reporting intermediate values (Aseeri et al, 2019;Kelly et al, 2017;Maruhn et al, 2019;Peer and Ponto, 2017). Studies using the Oculus Rift report distance judgments from 75% (Peer and Ponto, 2017) to 104% (Ahn et al, 2021) of actual distance, with many in between (Aseeri et al, 2019;Buck et al, 2018;Ding et al, 2020).…”

“…Therefore, it is advisable that researchers hoping to contextualize the underperception of distance in VR also measure perception in a real environment. Although the dramatic underperception that characterizes some older VR headsets (Renner et al, 2013) is evident without a real world comparison, researchers using modern consumer-grade headsets commonly report distance judgments above 80% ( (Ahn et al, 2021;Buck et al, 2018;Ding et al, 2020;Masnadi et al, 2021;Kelly et al, 2017;Zhang et al, 2021)). As distance perception in VR improves, real world comparison becomes more important to establish whether underperception still occurs.…”

Distance Perception in Virtual Reality: A Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Head-Mounted Display Characteristics

“…First, direct comparisons indicate that distance judgments are more accurate in newer headmounted displays (HMDs) compared to older ones [22], [23], [24], which suggests an improving trend. Second, there are reports of accurate distance judgments in modern HMDs, including studies reporting comparable distance judgments in real and virtual environments (HTC Vive: [24]; Oculus DK2: [25], Oculus CV1: [26]), as well as studies lacking a real environment comparison but reporting distance judgments quite close to 100% of the intended distance (HTC Vive: [27]; Oculus DK1: [22], [28]; Pimax 5k Plus: [29]). Examples such as these are notably absent from the literature using older HMDs.…”

“…Heterogeneity among studies using the same HMD is expected and is likely due to differences in experimental procedures and stimuli (e.g., VE characteristics), as well as sampling error. As an example of the heterogeneity in results across studies, reports of judged distance using the HTC Vive HMD have ranged from around 66% of intended distance [22] to 102% of intended distance [27]. Meta-analyzing several studies using the same HMD provides a good estimate of perceived distance for that specific HMD.…”