Abstract
The Redirected Walking (RDW) technique manipulates users' spatial perception, allowing them to walk within a Virtual Environment (VE) larger than the available physical tracking space. The principle of the RDW technique is to manipulate the rotation, translation, and curvature gain ratios on the VE so that users perceive walking straight in the VE even while following a curved path in the physical space. A reset mechanism is needed when the user reaches the edge of the tracking space area to continue walking in the Physical Environment (PE) area without hitting a wall or exiting the tracking space area. A reset reorients the user toward a safe direction—typically toward the center of the physical space. Distract ors subtly reorient users without their conscious awareness. Interacting with distract ors offers a more immersive experience than instructing users to rotate their bodies at the edge of the tracking space and about to hit a wall in PE. This study focuses on designing a distractor scenario based on the duration of the interaction factor and the user's awareness of VE changes. The experiment involved 35 participants who were asked to complete four distractor activities of different complexity. The statistical test results showed no significant relationship or difference between the duration of the distract or's activity and the user's level of awareness of the change in objects in the VE. These findings also support the phenomenon of change blindness in the context of RDW, showing that distractor activity can function as a reset mechanism without increasing user awareness of the manipulation of the virtual environment.
Keywords
Change blindness; Distractor; Redirected walking; Virtual reality
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.465
Citation
Natanael, I.N., Chen, C.,and Lu, W.(2025) Designing a Distractor as a Reset Mechanism in Virtual Reality: Exploring User Awareness in Redirected Walking, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.465
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 3 - Design, Art & Technology
Designing a Distractor as a Reset Mechanism in Virtual Reality: Exploring User Awareness in Redirected Walking
The Redirected Walking (RDW) technique manipulates users' spatial perception, allowing them to walk within a Virtual Environment (VE) larger than the available physical tracking space. The principle of the RDW technique is to manipulate the rotation, translation, and curvature gain ratios on the VE so that users perceive walking straight in the VE even while following a curved path in the physical space. A reset mechanism is needed when the user reaches the edge of the tracking space area to continue walking in the Physical Environment (PE) area without hitting a wall or exiting the tracking space area. A reset reorients the user toward a safe direction—typically toward the center of the physical space. Distract ors subtly reorient users without their conscious awareness. Interacting with distract ors offers a more immersive experience than instructing users to rotate their bodies at the edge of the tracking space and about to hit a wall in PE. This study focuses on designing a distractor scenario based on the duration of the interaction factor and the user's awareness of VE changes. The experiment involved 35 participants who were asked to complete four distractor activities of different complexity. The statistical test results showed no significant relationship or difference between the duration of the distract or's activity and the user's level of awareness of the change in objects in the VE. These findings also support the phenomenon of change blindness in the context of RDW, showing that distractor activity can function as a reset mechanism without increasing user awareness of the manipulation of the virtual environment.