Dynamic Translation Gain in Redirected Walking: Towards Exploring Larger Virtual Spaces

Translational gains allow users to walk at a certain speed in the physical world while seeing themselves move at a faster or slower speed in head mounted display systems. If the speed ratio exceeds a certain threshold, users can become aware of the discrepancy between their physical and virtual movements. Dynamic gains can potentially extend the threshold by continuously and subtly adjusting the gain. We conducted a user study to examine the effects of different gain changes on the detection threshold of translation gain. In addition, we aimed to explore the influence of factors, such as gender and walking speed, on dynamic translation gain. Our results indicated that gradual gain change was significantly more difficult to detect than sudden translation gain change and no significant differences were found among other gain change modes. Moreover, gender and walking speed significantly influenced the detection threshold for translational gain, although no significant interactions between these factors and the gain conditions were observed. The findings of this study contribute to informing redirected walking implementations and increasing the effectiveness and usability of redirected walking.