Hands-Free 2D & 3D Locomotion Interfaces for Virtual Reality and Telepresence

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Since ancient times, humans have dreamt of flying. Yet, despite technological advances, only a small fraction of humans (such as aircraft pilots) have the opportunity to fly themselves. Even for those few lucky ones however, flight is mediated through an aircraft and controllers. In this research program, I will investigate how we could use the power and increasing affordability of immersive virtual reality (VR) to provide a much wider audience with a truly embodied and compelling first-person locomotion experience, such as flying. Just like a bird or in dreams, VR offers the potential for humans to fly (or drive) unencumbered by any hand-held controllers. However, with current prevailing hand-controller based VR systems, users frequently experience motion sickness (35-95%), disorientation, high cognitive load, and reduced performance compared to natural walking. This critically impairs user experience and commercial success. The goal of my research program is to tackle these critical challenges, by designing motion sickness mitigation techniques and improved low-cost flying and driving interfaces. Specifically, we will expand our recent research on the innovative design, evaluation and examination of novel and highly efficient "leaning-based" interfaces where one can simply lean in the direction one wishes to travel in (similar to controlling a Segway), without the distraction of gamepads or other controllers. These interfaces will be designed to be accessible and easy to use for flying or driving through virtual environments, while reducing motion sickness and cognitive overload. Further, this program will investigate the most effective adaptation of these hands-free interfaces for usage with remote-controlled "telepresence robots", such as camera-equipped flying quadcopter drones or driving conference robots (e.g., "Skype on wheels" increasingly used in workplaces). This unprecedented research will provide an opportunity for users to "be" somewhere else ("(tele)presence") while having their hands free for other tasks. For instance, a user may sit/stand comfortably while wearing a head-mounted display showing an immersive view from the perspective of their flying drone. Simply by leaning, they can fly in any direction they desire, while having their hands free to zoom in and capture a stunning video. This research can improve numerous applications including architectural planning and walk/flythroughs; virtual tourism; immersive education, training, flight simulation, entertainment and gaming; and telepresent filming, photography, tourism, conferencing, and search-and-rescue. Improving telepresence can also help reduce needs to travel, benefiting workplace productivity, remote collaboration, and reducing environmental footprint. This program builds on more than 20 years of experience in using immersive multi-modal VR to study human perception, cognition, and performance, and applying this knowledge to design novel human-centred VR interfaces.