A full-body avatar improves egocentric distance judgments in an immersive virtual environment

Betty J. Mohler, Heinrich H. Bülthoff, William B. Thompson, Sarah H. Creem-Regehr

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

30 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A number of investigators have reported that distance judgments in virtual environments (VEs) are systematically smaller than distance judgments made in comparably-sized real environments. Many variables that may contribute to this difference have been investigated but none of them fully explain the distance compression. In this paper we asked whether seeing a fully-articulated visual representation of oneself (avatar) within a virtual environment would lead to more accurate estimations of distance. We found that participants who explored near space without the visual avatar underestimated egocentric distance judgments compared to those who similarly explored near space while viewing a fully-articulated avatar. These results are discussed with respect to the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms that may be involved in the observed effects as well as the benefits of visual feedback in the form of an avatar for VE applications.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAPGV 2008 - Proceedings of the Symposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization
Pages194-197
Number of pages4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008
EventSymposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization, APGV 2008 - Los Angeles, CA, United States
Duration: 2008 Aug 92008 Aug 10

Publication series

NameAPGV 2008 - Proceedings of the Symposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization

Other

OtherSymposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization, APGV 2008
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityLos Angeles, CA
Period08/8/908/8/10

Keywords

  • Avatars
  • Spatial perception
  • Virtual environments

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition

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