An initial exploration of a multi-sensory design space: Tactile support for walking in immersive virtual environments

M. Feng , A. Dey , R. W. Lindeman

3DUI

Multi-sensory feedback can make virtual walking feel more real, but its effects are hard to study as a single factor. This paper organises diverse cues into a design space and then examines specific tactile cues — movement wind, directional wind, and footstep vibration, alongside footstep sounds — during non-fatiguing walking in VR. Across two triangle-completion experiments, footstep vibration affected task performance and the added tactile cues significantly improved the reported user experience.

@inproceedings{feng2016,
  author    = {M. Feng and A. Dey and R. W. Lindeman},
  title     = {An initial exploration of a multi-sensory design space: Tactile support for walking in immersive virtual environments},
  booktitle = {3DUI},
  pages     = {95-104},
  doi       = {10.1109/3DUI.2016.7460037},
  year      = {2016}
}