Tangible VR Book: Exploring the Design Space of Marker-Based Tangible Interfaces for Virtual Reality

Abstract

Tangible User Interface (TUI) represents a huge potential for Virtual Reality (VR) because tangibles can naturally provide rich haptic cues which are often missing in VR experiences that make use of standard controllers. We are particularly interested in implementing TUIs for smartphone-based VR, given the lower usage barrier and easy deployment. In order to keep the overall system simple and accessible, we have explored object detection through visual markers, using the smartphone’s camera. In order to help VR experience designers, in this work we present a design space for marker-based TUI for VR. We have mapped this design space by developing several marker-based tangible interaction prototypes and through a formative study with professionals with different backgrounds. We then instantiated the design space in a Tangible VR Book which we evaluate with remote user studies inspired by the vignette methodology.