Optimal Raycast Selection Feedback in VR for Older Adults: A Design and Analysis Study

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Gerontology
• Virtual Reality

Background:

• Target selection in virtual reality (VR) presents challenges for older adults due to age-related motor and cognitive declines.
• Existing controller-based raycasting methods require optimized feedback for enhanced usability and accessibility in aging populations.
• The effectiveness of various uni-modal and multimodal feedback techniques for VR target selection in older adults remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate seven distinct feedback techniques (uni-modal and multimodal) for VR target selection.
• To investigate the impact of different feedback modalities on selection performance and user experience for older adults.
• To derive design implications for creating accessible VR selection interfaces for the aging population.

Main Methods:

• Development of seven feedback techniques: three uni-modal (visual, audio, haptic) and four multimodal (visual-audio, visual-haptic, audio-haptic, visual-audio-haptic).
• Conducting two user studies with older adults to assess selection tasks in both controlled and realistic VR environments.
• Quantitative and qualitative analysis of selection accuracy, task completion time, and user-reported experience.

Main Results:

• Visual-based feedback, particularly expansion techniques, significantly improved selection accuracy and overall user experience.
• Multimodal feedback did not consistently outperform uni-modal approaches; visual-haptic feedback offered an optimal balance of usability and reduced cognitive load.
• Specific feedback modalities demonstrated varying effectiveness depending on the task complexity and environmental realism.

Conclusions:

• Visual feedback is a key component for effective VR target selection in older adults.
• A judicious combination of visual and haptic feedback can enhance VR interaction usability and accessibility for aging users.
• The study provides actionable design implications to foster the development of inclusive VR experiences for older populations.