SIVE Lab

University of Minnesota Duluth

Affordances in VR

Researchers: Dr. Pete Willemsen | Noah Miller

Project Overview

Title: Comparing VR and Non-VR Affordances of a Push Broom, Noah Edward Miller, Peter Willemsen, Robert Feyen

Abstract

This study explores how VR controller interfaces affect how participants hold a virtual push broom in VR. We aim to understand how the affordances available with current VR controllers and a custom broom VR controller impact user hand placement in a visual VR broom task. We compare hand placement in two VR conditions against hand placement holding a real push broom. Our goal is to understand the roles that controllers have on recreating physically accurate actions in VR training scenarios. The results from this initial pilot show an effect of the broom controller condition but also that the order in which some of the conditions were presented to subjects affected the way subjects held the VR and real push brooms in subsequent actions. Future work will continue to explore how controller affordance may impact the role of training in VR.

Recent Updates

Noah Miller presented this part of his Master’s thesis work at the IEEE VR 2018 Conference in Reutlingen, Germany in March 2018.

Collaborators

This work is also in conjunction with the UMD MMAD (Motion and Media Across Disciplines) Lab - MMAD Lab