VR Distance Judgments are Affected by the Amount of Pre-Experiment Blind Walking

Many studies have found people can accurately judge distances in the real world while they underestimate distances in virtual reality (VR). This discrepancy negatively impacts some VR applications. Direct blind walking is a popular method of measuring distance judgments where participants view a target and then walk to it while blindfolded. To ensure that participants are comfortable with blindfolded walking, researchers often require participants to practice blind walking beforehand. We call this practice ”pre-experiment blind walking” (PEBW). Few studies report details about their PEBW procedure, and little research has been conducted on how PEBW might affect subsequent distance judgments. This between-participant study varied the amount of the PEBW and had participants perform distance judgments in VR. The results show that a longer PEBW causes less distance underestimation. This work demonstrates the importance of clearly reporting PEBW procedures and suggests that a consistent procedure may be necessary to reliably compare direct blind walking research studies.