Propping Up Virtual Reality With Haptic Proxies.

Physical props serving as proxies for virtual objects (haptic proxies) offer a cheap, convenient, and compelling way of delivering a sense of touch in virtual reality (VR). To successfully use haptic proxies for VR, they have to be both similar to and colocated with their virtual counterparts. In this article, we introduce a taxonomy organizing techniques using haptic proxies for VR into eight categories based on when the techniques are deployed (offline or real-time), what reality is being manipulated (physical or virtual reality), and the purpose of the techniques (to affect object perception or the mapping between real and virtual objects).

Superhuman Hearing - Virtual Prototyping of Artificial Hearing: a Case Study on Interactions and Acoustic Beamforming.

Directivity and gain in microphone array systems for hearing aids or hearable devices allow users to acoustically enhance the information of a source of interest. This source is usually positioned directly in front. This feature is called acoustic beamforming.

Auditory Feedback for Navigation with Echoes in Virtual Environments: Training Procedure and Orientation Strategies.

Being able to hear objects in an environment, for example using echolocation, is a challenging task. The main goal of the current work is to use virtual environments (VEs) to train novice users to navigate using echolocation. Previous studies have shown that musicians are able to differentiate sound pulses from reflections.

Where would you like to eat? A formative evaluation of mixed-reality solitary meals in virtual environments for older adults with mobility impairments who live alone.

This paper reports the results from a formative evaluation of a mixed-reality (MR) eating prototype developed in collaboration with a restaurant for older adults in Holstebro, Denmark. The prototype is used to demonstrate to the older adults the idea of MR eating in two virtual environments. We use qualitative techniques to address the question: What virtual environment do mobility-restricted older Danish adults perceive as engaging and suitable for pleasurable, MR solitary meals? The participants repeatedly used the label "coziness" to describe their desired atmosphere for an eating environment.

15 Years of Research on Redirected Walking in Immersive Virtual Environments.

Virtual reality users wearing head-mounted displays can experience the illusion of walking in any direction for infinite distance while, in reality, they are walking a curvilinear path in physical space. This is accomplished by introducing unnoticeable rotations to the virtual environment-a technique called redirected walking. This paper gives an overview of the research that has been performed since redirected walking was first practically demonstrated 15 years ago.

Sonic Interactions in Virtual Reality: State of the Art, Current Challenges, and Future Directions.

A high-fidelity but efficient sound simulation is an essential element of any VR experience. Many of the techniques used in virtual acoustics are graphical rendering techniques suitably modified to account for sound generation and propagation. In recent years, several advances in hardware and software technologies have been facilitating the development of immersive interactive sound-rendering experiences.

Establishing the range of perceptually natural visual walking speeds for virtual walking-in-place locomotion.

Walking-In-Place (WIP) techniques make it possible to facilitate relatively natural locomotion within immersive virtual environments that are larger than the physical interaction space. However, in order to facilitate natural walking experiences one needs to know how to map steps in place to virtual motion. This paper describes two within-subjects studies performed with the intention of establishing the range of perceptually natural walking speeds for WIP locomotion.