This method fully utilizes room-scale technology by generating environment layouts continuously based on where you are in your play area. The environments cleverly warp and change without you being aware of it allowing you to explore endlessly through room, hallways, vents and more.
Designed to allow users to naturally walk continuously around a large object (car) that is bigger than their tracked play area. In this method, users can see visual cues on the floor at the edge of their play area (the red areas) which, when stood on, movements become exaggerated by the play area (the grey box) also moving virtually in that direction.
At the 2016 Vision Summit, UX designer Daniel Sproll and developer Diego Montoya from Re’flekt shared their iterative design process behind Audi’s VR retail experience. In their talk, they share lots of their experimentations and learning outcomes. Watch it HERE.
Users can rotate their bodies in the play area without rotating in the virtual world allowing them to walk continuously in the virtual world by pacing back and forth in the play area.
How it works: By holding a button, the avatar’s head becomes suspended and locked in virtual space allowing the user to turn their body without turning in the virtual experience. When the button is let go, they can now continue walking in the desired direction. During the suspended locked process, the environment is blurred, and the play area grid is displayed for the user to see as a reference where they can turn to. Each turn is constantly being tracked so that floating dust can be generated in the play area drifting in a specific direction in order to hint the user as to which direction they should turn to avoid tangling their headset cords.
Brady Wright, founder and developer of Above-and-Beyond Software in Tecton games has a great video explaining in-depth his design of the Walk About locomotion method.
