Interaction Under Whole-Body User Rotations in VR Space

Virtual reality (VR) enables interactions beyond real-world limitations, yet many such capabilities remain underexplored due to concerns about user comfort and increased disorientation and cybersickness. This study examined how altering the user's virtual pitch orientation influences interaction performance and subjective ratings. In a within-subject design, 30 seated participants experienced 12 virtual tilts from moderate to extreme (±180°). We assessed comfort, simulator sickness, perceptual responses, and performance. Our results revealed no significant increases in nausea, disorientation, or decreased comfort, with mild tilts performing equivalently to baseline. Notably, even extreme tilts maintained low nausea levels. Performance effects were mixed: forward tilts yielded similar or slightly improved performance, whereas backward tilts modestly impaired performance, though not significantly. These findings suggest that VR experiences featuring virtual body orientations distinct from the user's physical posture are feasible without compromising comfort or performance, enabling novel opportunities in simulation, interface design, visualization, creative content creation, and VR gaming.