March-and-Reach: A realistic ladder climbing technique

Abstract

In most 3D applications, travel is limited to horizontal movement. A few 3D travel techniques allow for vertical travel, but most of them rely on “magic” abilities, such as flying. We sought to develop a realistic vertical travel technique for climbing ladders. We have developed March-and-Reach, with which the user marches in place to virtually step on lower ladder rungs while reaching to virtually grab higher rungs. We conducted a within-subject study to compare March-and-Reach to two prior ladder-climbing techniques. Results indicate that users consider and treat March-and-Reach as the most realistic ladder climbing technique.