Effects of Different Proximity-Based Feedback on Virtual Hand Pointing in Virtual Reality.

Virtual hand pointing is a natural interaction method, however, suffers from the issue of depth perception in virtual environments. The proximity feedback cues, which deliver intensity information once the pointer is getting closer to the target, may improve virtual hand pointing performance in virtual environments. However, less is known about the effects of such feedback cues on the depth movement phases of virtual hand pointing task. Therefore, this work focuses on the effects of different feedback cues (either visual (V), auditory (A), haptic (H), or any combinations of them) on a virtual hand pointing task in view and lateral directions in virtual environments. Results show that compared with other feedback types, haptic feedback cue significantly reduced movement time, particularly in a larger visual depth. We further analyzed the sub-movement time phases (e.g. ballistic and correction), and found that the participants achieved the shortest ballistic time with A+H and A+H+V, and shortest correct time with H. However, no significant differences of feedback conditions on the speed, error rate, and throughout were found. In addition, we discuss the implications based on the findings and present the future work.