The Effect of Realism on Hand Redirection in Immersive Environments

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Virtual Reality
• Mixed Reality

Background:

• Haptic redirection in virtual reality (VR) improves feedback versatility by reducing alignment needs.
• In mixed reality (MR), haptic redirection enables real-world interaction with virtual objects but complicates perception.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate how the realism of users' surroundings and hand representation affects haptic redirection detection in MR.
• Determine if familiarity with real surroundings or hand influences the detectability of redirection manipulations.

Main Methods:

• A user study (N=30) compared haptic redirection in VR versus MR.
• Participants viewed either a virtual environment or their real surroundings, with their hand shown as a 3D model or a 2D video sprite.
• A two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) design measured detection of varying redirection magnitudes.

Main Results:

• Participants showed no increased sensitivity to haptic redirection when their actual hand was rendered as a 2D video sprite compared to VR.
• The realism of the user's surroundings did not significantly alter the detectability of haptic redirection.

Conclusions:

• Haptic redirection is viable in mixed reality (MR) applications, even when users see their real hands.
• The findings support the integration of haptic redirection in MR systems without compromising user experience due to altered perception.