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Redirected Walking (RWD) .. a way to simulate large scale environments in confined spaces

LZoltowski
Champion
Hey everyone, for anyone who is interested in technical papers and interesting research, there is a lot of work being done on something called Redirected Walking. It is a method where the user is fooled into thinking they have just walked 200 meters forward in a 20mx20m space ... Very interesting read and there are tonnes of papers on it on the net.

Excerpt: "Redirected Walking, a new interactive locomotion technique for virtual environments (VEs), captures the
benefits of real walking while extending the possible size of the VE. Real walking, although natural and
producing a high subjective sense of presence, limits virtual environments to the size of the tracked space.
Redirected Walking addresses this limitation by interactively and imperceptibly rotating the virtual scene
about the user. The rotation causes the user to walk continually toward the furthest wall of the lab without
noticing the rotation. We implemented the technique using stereo graphics and 3D spatialized audio.
Observations during a pilot study suggest that the technique works: Redirected Walking causes people to
change their real walking direction without noticing it, allows for larger VEs, and does not induce
appreciable simulator sickness. "

Here is an interesting one (quoted above) to get you started: http://www.cs.unc.edu/techreports/01-007.pdf


Also a cool vid from tested on VR research: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJbAqAqjFKI


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21 REPLIES 21

brantlew
Adventurer

kevinw729 said:


Sadly, there seems to be little prospect in the short term of this migrating into consumer application, but there are a number of projects in the DOE (Digital Out-of-Home entertainment) scene that look promising.



There seems to an upper limit to inconvenience that people simply will not cross - no matter the benefit.  Redirected walking is a near-perfect solution to locomotion with a very clear and inexpensive technological path - likely it's the only viable solution.  People that assume ODT's are a comparable solution have likely tried neither.  You might think people would flock to the idea, but even for enthusiasts the barrier of convenience is just too high. 

TwoHedWlf
Expert Trustee


I'm thinking a newly waxed floor and cotton socks with bungee chord attached to each wall

..I have my best ideas after a few drinks



Replace with roller skates and no need to keep waxing the floor!

edmg
Trustee

brantlew said:

Redirected walking is a near-perfect solution to locomotion with a very clear and inexpensive technological path - likely it's the only viable solution.


So long as you have 10,000 square feet to walk around in, yes (from what I've read, I believe The Void uses some kind of redirected walking in their 'warehousescale' setup).

Most people don't have that much empty space in their house.

brantlew
Adventurer
Right, which was my point.  Unlike, for example, something like haptics which actually has no real solution in sight - locomotion has a solution.  But the convenience to stay inside one's home trumps the desire for that solution.

kevinw729
Honored Visionary

brantlew said:

....But the convenience to stay inside one's home trumps the desire for that solution.

The reality is that even at the height of the consumer goods revolution, there has still been a drive for social experience, and leaving the home has fueled this. The cinema, restaurant and even aspects of retail have seen a drive to "out-of-home" experiences, while the low-end retail and commerce sector is eaten by internet / social media application - the experiential sector still see's solid growth (just look at the leisure attendance numbers this year).

The idea that RDA will be applied in consumer application is an obvious one, but as with mainstream adoption of consumer VR, this seems premature to be seen as a thing now. For us, in the DOE sector, RDA offers a great way to utilize space, and RDA married to mutli-user arena offers a great opportunity to drive immersive entertainment.

We recently saw the first deployment of a VR Ghost Train attraction, and the information on audience usage and requirements will help to shape the next generation of immersive experiences. Very exciting times, even if the development is more for commercial that consumer usage.
 
https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

Litespeed
Heroic Explorer
The more I read the more I come to the conclusion that perfect VR at home is impossible.
Because you need so much space that in order to be able to afford it you'll have to move to a very remote location. In such a location you'll have no good internet connection. And what software runs without internet connection these days...  😛

kevinw729
Honored Visionary
I do not want to say "impossible" @Litespeed.

The situation is that many trying to define [control] the implementation of VR this time round into the consumer sector ignored the fundamentals of the technology, and even tried to manipulate the situation to force people to think that VR could be deployed mainstream in a 'restricted' (gamepad) style approach, as they tried to get their heads around how to apply VR Room-scale.

Whatever the rationale behind promoting this approach, the reality is that VR works better with free movement (as well as seated); this proven right back at the beginning of this latest phase of VR. The Valve 'RoomVR' system proving this point as far back as 2014. I understand that it was uncomfortable for some to follow this path, but trying to dictate the VR approach has proven counterintuitive.

Now the reality is that in embracing true VR with a room-scale approach consumer is not the best medium with the current technology available. Also the issues of usage, and deployment of suitable systems to enable safe and effective consumer usage are yet to be in place. DOE applications seem the best approach in the medium term.

I think we know why some tried to 'restrict' initial deployment of VR - I am sure the FB legal department had a cow considering personal injury claims... such as this:





https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

zboson
Superstar


Hey everyone, for anyone who is interested in technical papers and interesting research, there is a lot of work being done on something called Redirected Walking. It is a method where the user is fooled into thinking they have just walked 200 meters forward in a 20mx20m space ... Very interesting read and there are tonnes of papers on it on the net.

Excerpt: "Redirected Walking, a new interactive locomotion technique for virtual environments (VEs), captures the
benefits of real walking while extending the possible size of the VE. Real walking, although natural and
producing a high subjective sense of presence, limits virtual environments to the size of the tracked space.
Redirected Walking addresses this limitation by interactively and imperceptibly rotating the virtual scene
about the user. The rotation causes the user to walk continually toward the furthest wall of the lab without
noticing the rotation. We implemented the technique using stereo graphics and 3D spatialized audio.
Observations during a pilot study suggest that the technique works: Redirected Walking causes people to
change their real walking direction without noticing it, allows for larger VEs, and does not induce
appreciable simulator sickness. "

Here is an interesting one (quoted above) to get you started: http://www.cs.unc.edu/techreports/01-007.pdf


Also a cool vid from tested on VR research: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJbAqAqjFKI




This is great. Where do you find your sources? Is there a research based VR site?

LZoltowski
Champion

edmg said:


brantlew said:

Redirected walking is a near-perfect solution to locomotion with a very clear and inexpensive technological path - likely it's the only viable solution.


So long as you have 10,000 square feet to walk around in, yes (from what I've read, I believe The Void uses some kind of redirected walking in their 'warehousescale' setup).

Most people don't have that much empty space in their house.


If you read the paper or the interview he says 30m radius area is sufficient ... although the bigger the better of course
Core i7-7700k @ 4.9 Ghz | 32 GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance @ 3000Mhz | 2x 1TB Samsung Evo | 2x 4GB WD Black
ASUS MAXIMUS IX HERO | MSI AERO GTX 1080 OC @ 2000Mhz | Corsair Carbide Series 400C White (RGB FTW!) 

Be kind to one another 🙂

LZoltowski
Champion
@zboson I just investigate myself, i watch and read a lot of scientific papers as there are some really great innovations in there. Maybe I should start a blog 🙂
Core i7-7700k @ 4.9 Ghz | 32 GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance @ 3000Mhz | 2x 1TB Samsung Evo | 2x 4GB WD Black
ASUS MAXIMUS IX HERO | MSI AERO GTX 1080 OC @ 2000Mhz | Corsair Carbide Series 400C White (RGB FTW!) 

Be kind to one another 🙂