We introduce OVRlap, a VR interaction technique that lets the user perceive multiple places at the same time from a first-person perspective. OVRlap achieves this by overlapping viewpoints. At any time, only one viewpoint is active, meaning that the user may interact with objects therein. Objects seen from the active viewpoint are opaque, whereas objects seen from passive viewpoints are transparent. This allows users to perceive multiple locations at once and easily switch to the one in which they want to interact. We compare OVRlap and a single-viewpoint technique in a study where 20 participants complete object-collection and monitoring tasks. We find that in both tasks, participants are significantly faster and move their head significantly less with OVRlap. We propose how the technique might be improved through automated switching of the active viewpoint and intelligent viewpoint rendering.

Selection and manipulation in virtual reality often happen using an avatar’s hands. However, objects outside the immediate reach require effort to select. We develop a target selection technique called Ninja Hands. It maps the movement of a single real hand to many virtual hands, decreasing the distance to targets. We evaluate Ninja Hands in two studies. The first study shows that compared to a single hand, 4 and 8 hands are significantly faster for selecting targets. The second study complements this finding by using a larger target layout with many distractors. We find no decrease in selection time across 8, 27, and 64 hands, but an increase in the time spent deciding which hand to use. Thereby, net movement time still decreases significantly. In both studies, the physical motion exerted also decreases significantly with more hands. We discuss how these findings can inform future implementations of the Ninja Hands technique.

Wall displays support people in interacting with large information spaces in two ways: On the one hand, the physical space in front of such displays enables them to navigate information spaces physically. On the other hand, the visual overview of the information space on the display may promote the formation of spatial memory; from studies of desktop computers we know this can boost performance. However, it remains unclear how the benefits of locomotion and overviews relate and whether one is more important than the other. We study this question through a wall display adaptation of the classic Data Mountain system to separate the effects of locomotion and visual overview. Our findings suggest that overview improves recall and that the combination of overview and locomotion outperforms all other combinations of factors.

Research on virtual reality (VR) has studied users' experience of immersion, presence, simulator sickness, and learning effects. However, the momentary experience of exiting VR and transitioning back to the real-world is not well understood. Do users become self-conscious of their actions upon exit? Are users nervous of their surroundings? Using explicitation interviews, we explore the moment of exit from VR across four applications. Analysis of the interviews reveals five components of experience: space, control, sociality, time, and sensory adaptation. Participants described spatial disorientation, for example, regardless of the complexity of the VR scene. Participants also described a window across which they exit VR, for example mentally first and then physically. We present six designs for easing or heightening the exit experience, as described by the participants. Based on these findings, we further discuss the ?moment of exit' as an opportunity for designing engaging and enhanced VR experiences.