VR Book: A Tangible Interface for Smartphone-based Virtual Reality

Abstract

In this work we present three prototypes of the tangible VR Book: a visual marker-based solution to tangible interaction for smartphonebased Virtual Reality (VR). Smartphone-based VR represents a low barrier to entry in VR experiences given that many people nowadays own a smartphone device and that VR headsets for these devices are affordable and quick to set up when compared to desktopbased VR. Tangible interaction in smartphone-based VR has not been much explored, in our opinion, despite the fact that it can result in easy to use and engaging experiences. In this work, we explore a marker-based solution to object tracking that allows tangibles to be created in an easy and cheap way, maintaining the overall system accessible. We describe a design space for visual marker-based tangible interaction and three prototypes of a tangible VR Book that explore different aspects of the design space. We also present user feedback on their expectations regarding the interaction with the VR Book. CCS CONCEPTS• Human-centered computing → Virtual reality; Smartphones; Ubiquitous and mobile computing design and evaluation methods.

Marker-based Tangible Interfaces for Smartphone-based Virtual Reality

“…Demographics. The self-described professional activities of the respondents were "student" (5), "designer" (4), "professor" (2), "VR developer" (2), "marketing" (2), "electrical engineer" (1), "public servant" (1), "researcher" (1), "programmer" (1), "camera operator" (1), and "futurist" (1).…”

Research on the interaction of scenery-based VR video on smartphone

“…VR on smartphone refers to viewing VR videos only with the smartphone itself as a terminal device, excluding component devices such as mobile VR boxes. Although mobile VR is far inferior to professional VR devices in terms of viewing effects of VR videos, the popularity of mobile phones is unmatched by any other devices [2] , especially in the scenery category. Many VR videos are used for the promotion of scenic spots [3] .…”