ABSTRACT Presence is often used as a quality measure for virtual reality experiences. It refers to the sensation of "being there" that users feel while wearing a head-mounted display. In contrast, simulator sickness refers to the feeling of unease of some users while experiencing virtual motion. Nowadays, many virtual reality games do not allow the player to walk, trying to minimize the generation of unpleasant symptoms. This study explores how presence is affected by the ability to walk in VR games, as well as how simulator sickness actually grows when the player takes a virtual stroll. For this purpose, two prototypes of a small puzzle were built. In the first one, the player is able to walk, whereas the second one does not allow the user to move in any way. Presence and simulator sickness were measured using standard questionnaires while real players faced our puzzle. The results point to a strong correlation between the action of walking and an increment of the level of presence achieved by the subjects. However, there is no clear correspondence between walking and simulator sickness in our experiment. This last observation opens the way for further research and questioning of early studies about simulator sickness, as technical differences between current virtual reality devices and older ones may in uence how uncomfortable users feel while wearing them.

1. Walking in VR
Measuring Presence and Simulator Sickness in First-
Person Virtual Reality Games
Manuel López Ibáñez & Federico Peinado

2. ¿Caminar o
no caminar?

5. ➔ Pocos videojuegos de RV ofrecen una experiencia de movimiento en primera
persona satisfactoria. Saltamos, no caminamos.
➔ El impacto que tiene el movimiento sobre la inmersión es grande.
➔ ¿Realmente no podemos caminar a través de la interfaz en RV?
Problemas

6. Metodología
➔ Experimentación con un doble prototipo (Oculus Rift).
➔ Medición de presencia y simulator sickness (SS) a través de cuestionarios.
➔ Análisis de resultados.

7. Variables
Simulator
Sickness
Presencia
Caminar
(o no)

8. W NW

9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfBEJDB6LqI

10. Demografía
➔ 12 sujetos, 24 experiencias.
➔ 11 hombres, 1 mujer. De 18 a 26 años de edad.
➔ Mayoría (66,67 %) de alumnos de Ingeniería Informática.
➔ Un 33,33 % no había probado nunca un dispositivo de realidad virtual.

11. Resultados

12. Resultados

13. Resultados

14. Conclusiones
➔ Caminar genera un aumento de la presencia, mientras que no hacerlo la
reduce.
➔ En experiencias breves, no hay una correlación clara entre caminar y un
aumento de la SS.
➔ Existe una posibilidad de sesgo por sexo. El sujeto número 7 era una chica.
➔ Es necesario ampliar el número de sujetos y mejorar las condiciones del
experimento.

15. ¿Preguntas?
Contacto: Manuel López Ibáñez - manuel.lopez.ibanez@ucm.es
Federico Peinado - email@federicopeinado.com