Interacting with large maps using HMDs in VR settings

Abstract

Location based services are a common application scenario in mobile and ubiquitous computing use. A typical issue with cartographic applications in this domain is the limited size of the displayed map, which makes interaction and visualization a difficult problem to solve. With the increasing popularity of head mounted displays for VR and AR systems, an opportunity is presented for map-based applications to overcome the limitation of the small display size, as the user's information visualization space can extend to his entire surroundings. In this paper we present a preliminary investigation into how interaction with such very large display maps can take place, using a virtual reality headset as the sole input and interaction method.