Design
Locomotion user preferences
User preferences regarding artificial locomotion are crucial for designing an enjoyable virtual experience. Since no single approach fits all, some users may struggle with the sensations that artificial locomotion induces, while others may prefer one type over another.
This page provides a set of recommended artificial locomotion types and comfort options to implement in an experience, allowing users to set their preferences and fully enjoy a virtual world.
Allows users to choose between teleportation and slide. | |
Allows users to choose between snap and smooth turn. | |
In this section, we explore additional locomotion styles including hotspots, steps, crouch/stand, and jump, which can significantly enhance the functionality and user experience of a fully immersive application. | |
Provides users with visual aids and transitional effects to reduce discomfort during locomotion. |
Movement style
Basically, there are two main types of artificial movement that can be distinguished in fully immersive experiences: teleportation and slide.
Both exist due to user preference and comfort reasons. teleport is the comfort option, minimizes motion sickness, but may cause disorientation, while slide allows for more free control but can cause motion sickness. It’s important to let users choose between these two options to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable experience. Depending on user preference, the locomotion interaction can be either teleport or slide. For more guidance on how to implement these movement styles refer to the input maps page.
Teleportation
Meta Horizon Worlds
Teleportation locomotion in fully immersive experiences enables users to instantly move to a new location within the virtual environment. It typically involves a sequence of activation, aiming, optionally controlling landing orientation, and triggering teleportation.
This method reduces motion sickness by eliminating continuous movement, making it a comfortable option for many users. However, it can sometimes lead to disorientation as users adjust to sudden changes in their virtual surroundings.
Destination orientation
When teleporting, a user arrives at the new location facing the same direction. However, some applications allow users to choose their orientation at the destination. To facilitate this, the interaction should enable users to modify their orientation while targeting the new destination. For example, users can tilt the forward pushed thumbstick to the side to rotate their target orientation left or right.
Slide
Meta Horizon Worlds
Slide locomotion in fully immersive experiences allows users to move smoothly through virtual environments. This continuous movement method mimics walking or traditional video game navigation, providing a more immersive experience for exploring virtual spaces.
To enhance realism and reduce intense optic flow, align walking and running speeds with physical world averages—approximately 3 mph for walking and 6 mph for running. Matching these speeds helps prevent the visual discomfort often caused by unrealistic movement speeds. However, users may still experience motion sickness due to the discrepancy between visual motion and physical stillness. Refer to the comfort assistance section for visual techniques that can help alleviate this issue.
Direction mapping
Direction mapping controls how users move in a virtual environment based on their input modality. For example, when using controller-based Locomotion and pushing the thumbstick forward, does this mean the user moves in the direction the controller is pointing, or in the direction the user’s head is facing? There is no definitive answer, as it depends on user preference. Therefore, it’s crucial to allow users to choose their preferred mapping style for comfort and to prevent motion sickness. Here are the common types of direction mapping:
Head-relative | Movement is based on the direction the user’s head is facing. The input ‘forward’ will cause movement in the direction the head points, and turning the head changes the movement direction accordingly. |
Initial head-relative | The movement starts in the direction in which the head is facing when the ‘forwards’ input is triggered. Turning the head after this won’t alter the movement direction. |
Hand-relative | Movement follows the direction the hand/controller is pointing, regardless of head orientation. This method allows steering by moving the hand/controllers. |
Initial hand-relative | Similar to hand-relative, but the movement direction is fixed at the initial point of movement and doesn’t change even if the hand/controller is turned afterwards. |
Turn style
When a user is standing, they will most likely turn physically. However, this feature is particularly beneficial for users who are seated in non-rotating chairs, use wheelchairs, are tethered to a PC, or simply prefer not to physically turn around.
In fully immersive experiences, there are two main types of turns: snap turn and smooth turn. Both styles are designed to accommodate user preferences and comfort. Both exist due to user preference and comfort reasons. Snap turn is the comfort option, minimizes motion sickness, but may cause disorientation, while smooth turn allows for more free control but can cause motion sickness. It’s important to let users choose between these two options to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable experience. Depending on user preference, the interaction can be either for snap or smooth turn. For more guidance on how to implement these turn styles refer to the input maps page.
Snap turn
Meta Horizon Worlds
The camera turns at a fixed angle. Users have strong preferences how much they want to turn, so we recommend to provide the following options: 30°, 45° or 90° degrees.
Smooth turn
Meta Horizon Worlds
The camera turns at a speed relative to the input intensity. Turning starts as soon as the input deviates from the neutral position. This can be uncomfortable due to the mismatch between visual movement and physical acceleration, causing varying angular velocity and potential discomfort. It is recommended to allow users to adjust the speed of the rotation.
Additionals
Hotspots
Example from Meta Horizon Workrooms - seat selection
Hotspots are interactive points in a virtual environment that enable users to teleport or trigger actions. They are commonly used as teleportation nodes, allowing users to instantly move to new areas, such as in front of doors or in seated areas where the avatar adjusts to seated head height and orientation. It’s important to visualize if hotspots change the user’s orientation to prevent surprises.
Typically represented by glowing areas or distinct objects, hotspots cue users to their interactive potential. Interaction with hotspots can be facilitated through various input methods, such as hands or controllers, by using techniques like ray casting or teleportation arc.
Effective hotspot design ensures they are visually distinct, easily accessible, and provide clear feedback. This consistency in behavior meets user expectations and enhances engagement by making navigation and interaction within fully immersive experiences straightforward and enjoyable.
Steps
Steps is a locomotion style that blends elements of both Slide and Teleport to enhance user control in virtual environments. This hybrid approach allows users to move in a continuous direction similar to sliding but incorporates a blink animation, which breaks the movement into segments, giving the sensation of mini teleportations. This method helps mitigate motion sickness by limiting prolonged exposure to rapid visual movement, making it a comfortable option for users sensitive to motion.
Steps are particularly useful for teleportation users, enabling them to make positional adjustments in scenarios that require navigating small environments, without the need to aim precisely at their feet or backwards. Its ability to combine the fluidity of sliding with the comfort of teleportation makes it a versatile and user-friendly locomotion option.
Crouch/stand
The crouch/stand feature in fully immersive experiences enhances the experience by allowing users to interact with the virtual environment in an additional physically realistic manner. This functionality is crucial for games and applications that require stealth, exploration, or interaction with objects at different vertical levels.
- Crouch By activating the crouch feature, users can lower their viewpoint within the fully immersive environment, mimicking the action of crouching in the physical world. This is particularly useful for scenarios where users need to navigate under obstacles, hide behind low barriers, or explore lower areas of the virtual space.
- Stand Conversely, the stand feature returns the user to a normal upright position. This is the default stance for most interactions and movements within fully immersive experiences, providing an optimal view of the environment and facilitating standard navigation and interaction.
It’s important to ensure that the transition between crouching and standing is smooth and responsive to maintain immersion and prevent disorientation. Additionally, providing visual and auditory feedback when changing stances can enhance the realism of the experience. For example, the view might gradually lower or raise, and sound effects might mimic the noise of movement, further aligning the virtual actions with physical world sensations.
Jump
The jump feature in fully immersive experiences enables an energetic and playful immersion experience. It is essential for games and applications involving scenarios where users need to navigate over obstacles or reach higher areas.
Triggering the jump propels the user’s avatar/view upward within the fully immersive environment, mimicking the action of jumping in the physical world. This action is typically initiated by a specific button press or gesture, depending on the input method.
The transitions between standing and jumping are key to preserving immersion and avoiding disorientation. Realistic auditory feedback, like movement sounds, enhances the jumping experience by mirroring physical world actions.
Comfort assistance
We strongly advise incorporating comfort assistance into user settings. comfort assistance includes transitional effects and visual aids that effectively reduce discomfort when moving in fully immersive experiences. Consider implementing these aids:
Blink
The blink animation serves as a transitional effect that mimics natural blinking with the eyes to reduce motion sickness during continuous movement (aka slide). By briefly transitioning the screen to black repeatedly, it helps users adjust to the continuous motion. This creates an experience similar to teleportation or viewing a sequence of images.
The blink animation serves as a transitional effect that mimics natural blinking with the eyes to reduce motion sickness during continuous movement (aka slide). By briefly transitioning the screen to black repeatedly, it helps users adjust to the continuous motion. This creates an experience similar to teleportation or viewing a sequence of images.
Dash
A dash, or also referred as shift, is an effect that occurs when the camera swiftly shifts to a new location during a teleport, helping to reduce disorientation by smoothing the transition. This effect should be rapid and maintain a consistent speed to prevent discomfort.
A dash, or also referred as shift, is an effect that occurs when the camera swiftly shifts to a new location during a teleport, helping to reduce disorientation by smoothing the transition. This effect should be rapid and maintain a consistent speed to prevent discomfort.
Vignettes (tunnel vision)
Vignette is a visual effect that darkens the edges of the display to make the user focus their attention on the center of the view, reducing peripheral distractions. This technique helps reduce motion sickness by limiting the field of view during intense virtual movements.
Vignette is a visual effect that darkens the edges of the display to make the user focus their attention on the center of the view, reducing peripheral distractions. This technique helps reduce motion sickness by limiting the field of view during intense virtual movements.
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