The Evaluation of Gait-Free Locomotion Methods with Eye Movement in Virtual Reality

Abstract

As VR becomes increasingly popular in the entertainment industry, VR locomotion, a technique that allows users to navigate virtual environments beyond the spatial confines of the real world, is being increasingly studied by developers and researchers. Previous work has examined the effects of locomotion methods on various aspects of users, such as user experience, motion sickness, and task performance. However, how locomotion methods affect users' eye movements that might indicate cognitive load has not yet been in-vestigated, although several relevant works have addressed these effects as being important to study. To contribute to this area of research, in this work we investigate the evaluation of five common gait-free locomotion methods using eye movements during VR nav-igation. The results show that locomotion methods significantly affect participants' eye movement behavior (i.e., blinks, fixations, and saccades), suggesting that different cognitive responses were elicited with different locomotion methods. Our research provides a viable tool for future studies evaluating locomotion methods, thus providing further in-depth insights for developing more effective and enjoyable VR locomotion methods.