An accessible platform for everyday educational virtual reality

Given the modern accessibility and affordability of requisite hardware, the use of immersive virtual reality is possible in almost any domain. However, there is insufficient evidence of the value of immersive virtual reality relative to alternative approaches. In addition, there are a range of displays and input devices with varying capabilities that are all competing in the marketplace. Our work is evaluating the benefits of a "baseline" interface that applications can target while simultaneously designing such an application and interaction techniques within it. We discuss our rationale for choosing the immersive VR platform, as well as studies planned to evaluate interaction techniques and metaphors designed for the platform relative to a "simulated" non-immersive VR platform.