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

自古以来，人类就梦想着飞翔。然而，尽管技术进步，只有一小部分人（如飞机飞行员）有机会自己飞行。然而，即使是那些少数幸运的人，飞行也是通过飞机和控制器来调节的。在这个研究项目中，我将研究如何利用沉浸式虚拟现实（VR）的强大功能和日益增长的可负担性，为更广泛的受众提供真正体现和引人注目的第一人称运动体验，例如飞行。就像鸟或在梦中一样，VR为人类提供了不受任何手持控制器阻碍的飞行（或驾驶）潜力。然而，使用当前流行的基于手控器的VR系统，用户经常会经历晕动病（35-95%）、定向障碍、高认知负荷以及与自然行走相比性能降低。这严重损害了用户体验和商业成功。我的研究计划的目标是通过设计晕动病缓解技术和改进的低成本飞行和驾驶界面来解决这些关键挑战。具体来说，我们将扩大我们最近的研究创新设计，评估和检查新颖和高效的“基于倾斜”的界面，人们可以简单地倾斜在一个希望旅行的方向（类似于控制赛格威），没有游戏手柄或其他控制器的分心。这些界面将被设计为可访问和易于使用，用于在虚拟环境中飞行或驾驶，同时减少晕动病和认知过载。此外，该计划将研究这些免提接口与远程控制的“远程呈现机器人”一起使用的最有效的适应，例如配备摄像头的飞行四轴无人机或驾驶会议机器人（例如，“轮子上的Skype”越来越多地用于工作场所）。这项前所未有的研究将为用户提供一个机会，让他们在其他地方“（远程）存在”，同时腾出手来完成其他任务。例如，用户可以在佩戴头戴式显示器的同时舒适地坐/站，该头戴式显示器从他们的飞行无人机的视角示出沉浸式视图。只需倾斜，他们就可以飞向他们想要的任何方向，同时可以自由地放大并捕捉令人惊叹的视频。这项研究可以改善许多应用，包括建筑规划和步行/飞行;虚拟旅游;沉浸式教育，培训，飞行模拟，娱乐和游戏;以及远程拍摄，摄影，旅游，会议和搜救。改善网真还有助于减少差旅需求，提高工作场所的生产力，实现远程协作，并减少对环境的影响。该项目建立在20多年使用沉浸式多模态VR研究人类感知、认知和表现的经验基础上，并将这些知识应用于设计新颖的以人为本的VR界面。

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.