Enhancing fish tank VR

Abstract

Fish tank VR systems provide head coupled perspective projected stereo images on a display device of limited dimensions that resides at a fixed location. Therefore, fish tank VR systems provide only a limited virtual workspace. As a result, such systems are less suited for displaying virtual worlds that extend beyond the available workspace and depth perception problems arise when displaying objects (virtually) located on the edge of the workspace in between the viewer and the display screen. In this paper we present two techniques to reduce this disadvantage: cadre viewing and amplified head rotations. The first aims to eliminate the problems in depth perception for objects with negative parallax touching the screen surround. Subjective observations from an informal user study indicate a reduction of confusion in depth perception. The second provides a transparent navigation technique to allow users to view larger portions of the virtual world without the need for an additional input device to navigate. A user study shows it performs equally well when compared to a technique based on the use of an additional spatial input device.