3PP-R: Enabling Natural Movement in 3rd Person Virtual Reality

We propose 3PP-R, a novel Virtual Reality display and interaction technique that allows natural movement in 3rd-person perspective (3PP), including body rotation without losing sight of the avatar. A virtual display such as a World-in-Miniature model orbits around the user when the user turns, but does not rotate except for the user’s avatar. From the user’s perspective, the display appears fixed in the field of vision, while the world rotates around the avatar. 3PP-R combines the strengths of 3PP and 1st-person perspective (1PP): Similar to 1PP, it allows interacting with rich natural movements, while also reaping the benefits of 3PP, i.e., superior spatial awareness and animating the avatar without nauseating viewpoint movement, e.g., for joystick-controlled locomotion. We test 3PP-R in a maze navigation study, which indicates considerably less cybersickness in 3PP-R than in 1PP. We also demonstrate 3PP-R in dynamic game interaction including running, jumping, swinging on bars, and martial arts.