Immersive movies take advantage of virtual reality (VR) to bring new opportunities for storytelling that allow users to naturally turn their heads and bodies to view a 3D virtual world and follow the story in a surrounding space. However, while many designers often assume scenarios where viewers stand and are free to physically turn without constraints, this excludes many commonly desired usage settings where the user may wish to remain seated, such as the use of VR while relaxing on the couch or passing the time during a flight. For such situations, large amounts of physical turning may be uncomfortable due to neck strain or awkward twisting. Our research investigates a technique that automatically rotates the virtual scene to help redirect the viewer's physical rotation while viewing immersive narrative experiences. By slowly rotating the virtual content, viewers are encouraged to gradually turn physically to align their head positions to a more comfortable straight-ahead viewing direction in seated situations where physical turning is not ideal. We present our study of technique design and an evaluation of how the redirection approach affects user comfort, sickness, the amount of physical rotation, and likelihood of viewers noticing the rotational adjustments. Evaluation results show the rotation technique was effective at significantly reducing the amount of physical turning while watching immersive videos, and only 39% of participants noticed the automated rotation when the technique rotated at a speed of 3 degrees per second.

Virtual reality (VR) allows for immersive and natural viewing experiences; however, these often expect users to be standing and able to physically turn and move easily. Seated VR applications, specifically immersive 360 degree movies, must be appropriately designed to facilitate user comfort and prevent sickness. Our research explores a scene rotation-based method for redirecting a viewer's gaze and its effectiveness given three parameter adjustments: rotation delay, rotation speed, and angle threshold. The technique may be useful in the development of future immersive movie or VR experiences. From the research, we expect to discover which parameters prove most effective at redirecting a viewer's gaze in an immersive movie experience. We present preliminary developments and an informal usability evaluation to collect participant feedback about preference, comfort, and sickness.