Virtual guiding avatar

Abstract

This study developed a new procedure, a Virtual Guiding Avatar (VGA), which combined self-motion prediction cues and an independent visual background (IVB) to alleviate simulator sickness (SS). The VGA, which was embodied as an abstract airplane, was designed to lead the participant along a horizontal motion trajectory through a virtual environment. Both motion prediction cues and IVBs, which provide an earth-fixed reference frame, reduced SS in separate previous studies. Participants were exposed to complex visual motion through a cartoon-like simulated environment in a very wide field of view driving simulator. Participants' responses to avatars with varying motion properties -fixed, rotation only or rotation plus translationwere assessed using a within-subjects experimental design. Results indicated that SS was reduced by a VGA that presented rotational cues alone or rotation plus translation. The VGA also increased participants' sense of presence and enjoyment relative to conditions lacking a VGA. The VGA procedure can be used to enhance user experiences in immersive virtual environments as well as to improve motion simulator design.

Granulated Rest Frames Outperform Field of View Restrictors on Visual Search Performance

“…The results provide a deep understanding of the distinction between GRFs and FOV restrictors on visual scanning task performance. Importantly, our results add to the growing body of literature on the generic generation of RFs (Frey et al, 2007;Lin et al, 2002a;Lin et al, 2004).…”

“…Studies on projection-based systems, such as CAVEs (Cruz-Neira et al, 1993), show that the seams between screens and elements of the real world visible beyond the screens acting as RFs on the foreground may induce lower VIMS (Cruz-Neira et al, 1993;Lin et al, 2004, Lin et al, 2002a. Lin et al (2004) employed a Virtual Guiding Avatar to alleviate VIMS, where the avatar, a visual cue, provided a relatively stable cue. The results from a revised simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ) (Kennedy et al, 1993) indicated that a Virtual Guiding Avatar with rotational cues alone or with translation could reduce VIMS (Lin et al, 2004).…”

“…Lin et al (2004) employed a Virtual Guiding Avatar to alleviate VIMS, where the avatar, a visual cue, provided a relatively stable cue. The results from a revised simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ) (Kennedy et al, 1993) indicated that a Virtual Guiding Avatar with rotational cues alone or with translation could reduce VIMS (Lin et al, 2004). Cao et al (2018) demonstrated that software-based RFs in HMD systems could also effectively achieve similar impacts.…”

Visually Induced Motion Sickness on the Horizon

“…Other visual references, such as a fixation dot, or a reference that is yoked to the head of the observer, such as the visible frame of the HMD, should fall somewhere in-between. Previous studies have examined the effect of an artificial horizon and found it to be beneficial in the reduction of VIMS symptoms (Rolnick and Bles, 1989;Lin et al, 2004;Tal et al, 2012Tal et al, , 2014. However, they have not compared degrees of visual reference frame information.…”

Recommendations for Methodology of Virtual Reality Clinical Trials in Health Care by an International Working Group: Iterative Study

“…Recommendations for developers already exist [70,71]: appropriately accelerate within the program [71,72], anticipate changes in direction [73], affect changes in the field of view [73], establish realistic virtual avatar movements, reduce drops in the frame rate below 60 fps [71], blur the display with movement [74], and provide other solutions at the level of program design.…”