Towards efficient spatial compression in self-overlapping virtual environments

Abstract

Space available for any virtual reality experience is often strictly limited and abridges the virtual world to a size of a room. To extend the amount of virtual space accessible by walking within the same real workspace the methods of spatial compression were proposed. Scene manipulation with a controlled spatial overlap has been shown to be an efficient method. However, in order to apply space compression effectively for a dynamic, scalable and robust 3D user interface, it is important to study how the human perceives different layouts with overlapping spaces. In this paper, we explore the influence of the properties of the layout used on human spatial perception in a physically impossible spatial arrangement. Our first reported study focuses on the following parameters of the path within a simple self-overlapping layout: number of turns, relative door positions, sequences of counter- and clockwise turns, symmetry and asymmetry of the path used. In addition, in the second study we explore the effect of path smoothing by substituting the right-angled corridors by smooth curves. Our studies show that usage of the smooth curved corridors is more beneficial for spatial compression than the conventional right-angled approach.