Summary

This research aims to determine how multimodal interactions can reduce fatigue and enhance comfort in long-term Virtual Reality (VR) sessions.

VR enables immersive experiences for users in many domains, such as education, rehabilitation, training, and entertainment. Yet, users often experience discomfort during extended VR sessions. This limits VR’s full potential, and due to this, users are unable to continue long-term sessions such as one hour.

Users experience physical strain from prolonged movement, visual fatigue from display factors, and mental fatigue from complex tasks. Interactions in VR, such as object selection, object manipulation, navigation, text input, and system control, require continuous hand movements and continuous attention, increasing fatigue over time.

This research proposes a multimodal user interaction approach that integrates voice commands, haptic touch, and gaze inputs alongside default controllers and hand gestures to mitigate fatigue in VR for long-term sessions such as at least 1-hour continuous session per day for a few days. Three research questions will explore its effects on arm fatigue, mental fatigue, and aspects of the task. Through qualitative and quantitative methods, this research will assess physical fatigue and mental fatigue, comparing default controllers and multimodal interactions. This research seeks to mitigate fatigue in long-term VR sessions by prioritizing user comfort.

Acknowledgement

This PhD is funded by a University of Canterbury Human Interface Technology Lab NZ PhD Scholarship.

Researcher and Contact

Upulanka Premasiri

Supervisory Team

• • Prof. Rob Lindeman, HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury
  • Prof. Stephan Lukosch, HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury

UC People