Movement Strategies in Virtual Reality: Exploring the Influence of 3D Endpoint Variability

Abstract

Research using a kinematic approach has revealed that users often exhibit strategic biases in their movement behavior to minimize the effort required to reach a target. However, a recent exploration of these effects in a virtual reality (VR) environment yielded conflicting results, calling into question whether strategic patterns observed in movements to physical targets can be expected to generalize to VR environments. In the present study, we re-analyze the data from Clark and Riggs (2020) using principal component analysis (PCA) to empirically distinguish between alternative explanations for the unexpected results. Our findings clarify the source of these results for downward versus upward movements and provide a preliminary look at how adaptations to manage perception- and execution-related motor variability may impact users’ movement strategies in VR.