Wim-Based Group Navigation for Collaborative Virtual Reality

Abstract

Group navigation is essential for arranging group members in a certain configuration, as it supports team communication and interaction in collaborative virtual reality (VR). We propose a group World-in-Miniature (group WiM) navigation technique that allows a guide to control and navigate a team within a miniature replica of the entire virtual environment. We evaluated the technique’s usability, user performance, and discomfort considering both user roles: the group guide, who controls navigation and arrangement, and group members, who are the ones being navigated and arranged. In addition, we compared it with a state-of-the-art group teleportation technique in a user study (n = 20). No significant differences were observed in the placement error and for the interaction effect. Qualitative feedback on the perceived advantages and disadvantages of both techniques was collected and summarized. The participants highlighted that the group WiM provides an overview and full control for navigation in complex virtual environments, while group teleportation provides a good understanding of the spatial environment during the navigation.

Keywords: virtual reality, Group navigation, Collaborative virtual reality, Collaborative interactions, human-computer interaction