Go-in-Circles: A Directed Walking Algorithm for VR Navigation Based on One-Step-Ahead Strategy

In virtual reality (VR), how to map large-scale virtual spaces to small tracking area is a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose a novel steering algorithm for the redirected walking (RDW) technique to steer users away from the boundaries of the tracking area while reducing perceptible discrepancies. Inspired by the motion illusion that when a person is blindfolded, she goes in circles while thinking she is walking in a straight and infinitely long path, we map the path composed of straight-line segments in virtual space to a path composed of arcs in real space, and use one-step-ahead strategy and a buffer zone to reduce the number of user-boundary collisions. To verify the effectiveness of our algorithm, we conduct two experiments based on simulated in large-scale virtual spaces with a relatively small tracking area. The results indicate that our algorithm can effectively reduce collisions and perceptual distortion, and show the potential to address the challenge of simultaneously redirecting more than one user.