This video showcases a new redirected walking implementation project that creates an “unlimited” virtual corridor in a space just 5 x 7 metres in size.
Redirected walking (RDW) is a technique which aims to maximise the physical space of a virtual reality playspace by tricking your senses. Or, “strongly modifying spatial perception” so that your mind believes, for example, that you’re body is travelling in a straight line where in reality, it’s traversing a carefully calculated curved course to keep that play space small.
At SIGGRAPH last week, a project developed in part by Unity Product Evangelist and Education Lead Yohei Yanase at the University of Tokyo was present, featuring a new “Visuo-Haptic” VR experience which claims to create the illusion an infinite virtual corridor within an actual physical play space of just 5 x 7 metres in size.
“It works by strongly modifying spatial perception, all while avoiding the typical “reorientation” manipulation methods that most often cause VR motion sickness,” states a press release, “And it’s designed to let multiple people experience it simultaneously, without risk of bumping into each other. Modern techniques like this could represent the next phase in VR navigation, merging virtual with physical environments to extend the comfort of VR sessions and extensibility of virtual environments.”
