Adjustment and control methods for precise rotation and positioning of virtual object by hand

Abstract

A rotation adjustment method for precisely and efficiently manipulating a virtual 3D object by hand in an immersive virtual environment is proposed. A relative direction between both hands adjusts the rotation of the virtual object. This adjustment method also uses spherical linear interpolation based on quaternion algebra to scale down rotations, making small rotation adjustment easier. The scaled adjustment enables a user to precisely manipulate the virtual object. Activation of the rotation adjustment is controlled by the distance between both hands or by the distance between the thumb and forefinger. This rotation adjustment method was implemented as well as the translational position, viewpoint, and release adjustment methods. Combinations of these adjustment and control methods were evaluated in an experiment. The experimental results suggest that the rotation adjustment method helps a user who cannot precisely control rotation by his/her hand pinching a virtual object.