Towards a Bedder Future: A Study of Using Virtual Reality while Lying Down

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Abstract

Most contemporary Virtual Reality (VR) experiences are made for standing users. However, when a user is lying down---either by choice or necessity---it is unclear how they can walk around, dodge obstacles, or grab distant objects. We rotate the virtual coordinate space to study the movement requirements and user experience of using VR while lying down. Fourteen experienced VR users engage with various popular VR applications for 40 minutes in a study using a think-aloud protocol and semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis of captured videos and interviews reveals that using VR while lying down is comfortable and usable and that the virtual perspective produces a potent illusion of standing up. However, commonplace movements in VR are surprisingly difficult when lying down, and using alternative interactions is fatiguing and hampers performance. To conclude, we discuss design opportunities to tackle the most significant challenges and to create new experiences.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCHI '23: Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Proceedings
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Publication date2023
Pages1-18
Article number872
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
EventThe 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Hamburg, Germany
Duration: 23 Apr 202328 Apr 2023
https://chi2023.acm.org

Conference

ConferenceThe 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityHamburg
Period23/04/202328/04/2023
Internet address

Keywords

  • Faculty of Science
  • Virtual reality (VR)
  • User eXperience (UX)
  • Movement
  • lying down
  • room-scale
  • bed
  • supine

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