An experimental comparison of interaction in the real world and a CAVE virtual environment was carried out, varying interaction with and without virtual hands and comparing two manipulation tasks. The double-handed task was possible in the real world but nearly impossible in the VE, leading to changed behavior. The single-handed task showed more errors in the VE but few behavioral differences. Users encountered more errors in the CAVE condition without the virtual hand than with it, and few errors in the real world. Visual feedback caused many usability problems in both tasks. The implications for VE usability and virtual prototyping are discussed.

This paper presents a heuristic method for evaluating virtual environment (VE) user interfaces. The method is based on Nielsen's [Usability Inspection Methods, 1994] usability heuristics, extended by VE-specific principles proposed by Sutcliffe and Kaur [Behaviour and Information Technology 19 (2000) 415–426]. Twelve heuristics are presented which address usability and presence issues. An inspection-based evaluation method is described and illustrated with three usability case study assessments, the last of which rates the applicability and validity of the heuristics by several evaluators. Use of the method uncovered several usability problems and trapped the most serious errors. Finally, VE applications integrating measures of usability and presence are discussed.