Award Abstract # 0121084
ITR/SY: Collaborative/RUI Research on the Perceptual Aspects of Locomotion Interfaces

NSF Org: IIS
Division of Information & Intelligent Systems
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
Initial Amendment Date: September 6, 2001
Latest Amendment Date: April 25, 2007
Award Number: 0121084
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Jie Yang
jyang@nsf.gov
 (703)292-4768
IIS
 Division of Information & Intelligent Systems
CSE
 Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Start Date: September 15, 2001
End Date: August 31, 2008 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $0.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $1,459,750.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2001 = $600,000.00
FY 2002 = $214,750.00

FY 2003 = $215,000.00

FY 2004 = $206,000.00

FY 2005 = $212,000.00

FY 2006 = $12,000.00
History of Investigator:
  • William Thompson (Principal Investigator)
    thompson@cs.utah.edu
  • John Hollerbach (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Peter Shirley (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Sarah Creem-Regehr (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Utah
201 PRESIDENTS CIR
SALT LAKE CITY
UT  US  84112-9049
(801)581-6903
Sponsor Congressional District: 01
Primary Place of Performance: University of Utah
201 PRESIDENTS CIR
SALT LAKE CITY
UT  US  84112-9049
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
01
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): LL8GLEVH6MG3
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Information Technology Researc,
ITR MEDIUM (GROUP) GRANTS,
Robust Intelligence
Primary Program Source: 01000102DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
app-0102 

app-0103 

app-0104 

app-0105 

app-0106 
Program Reference Code(s): 0000, 1654, 1687, 9178, 9216, 9251, HPCC, OTHR, SMET
Program Element Code(s): 164000, 168700, 749500
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.070

ABSTRACT

No current system allows a person to naturally walk through a large-scale virtual environment. The availability of such a locomotion interface would have impacts on a broad range of applications, including education and training, design and prototyping, physical fitness, and rehabilitation; for some of these applications natural walking provides a level of realism not obtainable if movement through the simulated world is controlled by devices such as a joystick, while for others realistic walking is a fundamental requirement. Prototypes have been built for a variety of computer-controlled devices on which a person can walk, but there has been little investigation of the utility of such devices as interfaces to a virtual world and almost no study at all of the interactions of visual and biomechanical perceptual cues in such devices. This project addresses key open questions, the answers to which are needed if locomotion interfaces are to offer effective interaction between users and computer simulations. An effective locomotion interface must provide users with accurate visual and biomechanical sensations of walking; thus, a key objective of this work is to determine how to synergistically combine visual information generated by computer graphics with biomechanical information generated by devices that simulate walking on real surfaces. The PI and his collaborators will investigates methods that allow more accurate walking in a locomotion interface while accurately conveying a sense of the spaces being walked through. Specific issues to be considered include how to facilitate the perception of speed and distance traveled, how to provide a compelling sense of turning when actual walking along a curved path is not possible, how to give a user the sense that he/she is walking over a sloped surface, and more generally how to give a user a clear sense of the scale and structure of the spaces being walked through. The PI's findings on these issues will be relevant across the spectrum of possible approaches to locomotion interfaces.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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(Showing: 1 - 10 of 26)
Betty J. Mohler, William B. Thompson, Bernhard Riecke, and Heinrich H. Buelthoff "Measuring Vection in a Large Screen Virtual Environment" Proceedings ACM Symposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization , 2005
Betty J. Mohler, William B. Thompson, Sarah H. Creem-Regehr, Peter Willemsen, Herbert L. Pick, Jr., and John J. Rieser "Calibration of Locomotion due to Visual Motion in a Treadmill-based Virtual Environment" ACM Transactions on Applied Perception , 2007
Betty J. Mohler, William B. Thompson, Sarah H. Creem-Regehr, Peter Willemsen, Herbert L. Pick, Jr., and John J. Rieser "Calibration of Locomotion due to Visual Motion in a Treadmill-based Virtual Environment" ACM Transactions on Applied Perception , v.4 , 2007
B.J. Mohler, S.H. Creem-Regehr, and W.B. Thompson "The Influence ofFeedback on Egocenteric Distance Judgments in Real and VirtualEnvironments" Proc. Third Symposium on Applied Perception in Graphicsand Visualization , 2006 , p.9
B.J. Mohler, W.B. Thompson, S.H. Creem-Regehr, H.L. Pick, Jr., and W.H.Warren, Jr. "Visual Flow Influences Gait Transition Speed and PreferredWalking Speed" Experimental Brain Research , v.181 , 2007 , p.221
B.J. Mohler, W.B. Thompson, S.H. Creem-Regehr , H.L. Pick, Jr., W.H.Warren, Jr. "Visual Motion Influences Locomotion in a Treadmill Virtual Environment" ACM/SIGGRAPH Symposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization , 2004 , p.19
C. Parker, D. Carrier, and J.M Hollerbach "Validation of torso force feeback slope simulation through an energy cost comparison" World Haptics Conference , 2005 , p.446
Cynthia S. Sahm, Sarah H. Creem-Regehr, William B. Thompson, and Peter Willemsen "Throwing versus walking as indicators of distance perception in real and virtual environments" ACM Transactions on Applied Perception , v.2 , 2005 , p.35
Cynthia S. Sahm, Sarah H. Creem-Regehr, William B. Thompson, and Peter Willemsen "Throwing vs. Walking as Indicators of Distancer Perception in Real and Virtual Environments" Proc. First SIGGRAPH Symposium on Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization , 2004 , p.178
Peter Willemsen, Mark B. Colton, Sarah H. Creem-Regehr, and William B. Thompson "Examining Distance Compression in Virtual Environments: Hi-Tech versus No-Tech Displays (Abstract)" Journal of Vision , v.4 , 2004 , p.20a
P. Willemsen, A.A. Gooch, W.B. Thompson, and S.H. Creem-Regehr "Effects of Stereo Viewing Conditions on Distance Perception in Virtual Environments" Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments , v.17 , 2008 , p.91
(Showing: 1 - 10 of 26)

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