Group WiM: A Group Navigation Technique for Collaborative Virtual Reality Environments

• Published in: 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW) pp. 556 - 557
• Main Authors: Chheang, Vuthea, Heinrich, Florian, Joeres, Fabian, Saalfeld, Patrick, Preim, Bernhard, Hansen, Christian
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.03.2022
• Subjects: Collaboration; Computing methodologies-Computer graphics-Graphics systems and interfaces-Virtual reality; concepts and paradigms-Social navigation; Conferences; Human-centered computing-Collaborative and social computing-Collaborative and social computing theory; Human-centered computing-Human computer interaction (HCI)-Interaction paradigms-Collaborative interaction; Navigation; Social computing; Teleportation; Three-dimensional displays; Virtual environments
• DOI: 10.1109/VRW55335.2022.00129

In this work, we present a group World-in-Miniature (WiM) navigation technique that allows a guide to navigate a team in collaborative virtual reality (VR) environments. We evaluated the usability, discomfort, and user performance of the proposed technique compared to state-of-the-art group teleportation in a user study {\left(n\,=\,21\right)} . The results show that the proposed technique induces less discomfort for the guide and has slight usability advantages. Additionally, the group WiM technique seems superior in regards to task completion time for obstructed target destination. However, it performs similarly to the group teleportation technique in direct line of sight cases. The group WiM technique provides potential benefits for effective group navigation in complex virtual environments and harder-to-reach target locations.