Steps and Ladders in Virtual Reality

This paper describes a technique for walking through, and climbing or descending steps and ladders in virtual reality. The idea is that human participants in the virtual reality (VR) carry out a whole body gesture similar to walking, by walking in place. A pattern analyser distinguishes between walking in place behaviour, and any other behaviour, and moves the participant through the environment when it detects the walking in place. Such "walking" while on steps or ladders similarly causes appropriate virtual movement. We discuss this in the context of a paradigm for interaction called "body centred interaction". This attempts to maximise the match between the mental body model formed as a result of proprioceptive information generated by limb and body movements, and the sensory data displayed by the VR system, within the constraints imposed by limited tracking information. We argue that the sense of presence in the VR is enhanced by such body centred interaction techniques, and we present experimental evidence in support of this claim.