Resolving Occlusion in Augmented Virtuality
PhD Thesis
This project addressed the challenge of unwanted occlusion in augmented virtuality by exploring strategies to align physical and virtual environments, enhancing seamless interaction and usability. Through user movement adjustments and alignment during teleportation, this work aims to integrate physical workflows into virtual environments for more effective cross-reality interactions.
Summary
In this project, I tackled a critical challenge in augmented virtuality, where physical objects are integrated into predominantly virtual environments to create immersive experiences. A common problem in augmented virtuality is the unwanted occlusion of physical content by the virtual environment, disrupting seamless interaction and reducing usability. This occlusion arises due to differing spatial alignments between physical and virtual environments, especially when users utilize virtual locomotion methods like teleportation, resulting in physical content not aligning as intended with the virtual environment.To address these issues, I explored two distinct approaches: one strategy involves subtly adjusting user movement within the virtual space via redirected walking to maintain alignment and minimize occlusions. The other focuses on aligning virtual elements with physical objects during user teleportation. These strategies were evaluated through a user study in a virtual forestry scenario where participants navigated and interacted with both physical and virtual elements. Although the user study is complete, data analysis is still underway. This work aims to minimize unwanted occlusions and misalignments to enhance the integration of existing physical workflows into virtual environments, enabling more seamless and effective cross-reality interactions.