Redirected Smooth Mappings for Multiuser Real Walking in Virtual Reality
Figure 1: We present a novel approach to provide real walking and physical interactions for multiple users in co-located VR systems. (a) is the input virtual scene with a size of 64m × 33m. (b1) is the real workspace with a size of 10m × 10m. We create a redirected smooth map from (a) to (b1) by generating a smooth map from (a) to (b2) and then applying the redirected walking technique from (b2) to (b1). Note that the solid black square frame in (b2) is the same size (10m × 10m) as (b1). The virtual navigation path (shown in gradient color in (a)) is mapped to the paths shown in (b1)and (b2), respectively. The virtual world view and user’s HMD view at one viewpoint are shown in (c1) and (c2), respectively. We guarantee no collisions for multiple users when they walk freely within the real workspace. When two users are too close (as shown in (d1)) and are at risk of colliding, an avatar automatically appears close to each user (as shown in (e1)) to warn them to keep away from each other. In (d2) two users are carrying a cardboard box together from one location to another. One user’s view is shown in (e2). The human model in these images represents the other user.
Abstract
We propose a novel technique to provide multi-user real walking experiences with physical interactions in VR applications. In our system, multiple users walk freely while navigating a large, virtual environment within a smaller, physical workspace. These users can interact with other real users or physical props in the same physical locations. The key of our method is a redirected smooth mapping that incorporates the redirected walking technique to warp the input virtual scene with small bends and low distance distortion. Users possess a wide fi eld of view to explore the mapped virtual environment while being redirected in the real workspace. To keep multiple users away from the overlaps of the mapped virtual scenes, we present an automatic collision avoidance technique based on dynamic virtual avatars. These avatars naturally appear, move, and disappear, producing as little influence as possible on users’ walking experiences. We evaluate our multi-user real walking system through formative user studies, and demonstrate the capability and practicability of our technique in two multi-user applications.
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Bibtex
@article {Dong_REM_2019,
title = {Redirected Smooth Mappings for Multiuser Real Walking in Virtual Reality},
author = {Zhi-Chao Dong and Xiao-Ming Fu and Zeshi Yang and Ligang Liu},
journal = {ACM Transactions on Graphics},
volume = {38},
number = {5},
pages = {149:1--149:17},
year = {2019},
}