This is a program I made for the 3DIA Lab in order to showcase the tracking technology we have there, and to scare the visitors of our Lab (in a good way). It also shows how the addition of "passive haptic feedback" improves the sense of presence inside a Virtual Reality Environment (VE). The original idea comes from a research paper from University of North Carolina about passive haptic feedback.
The idea behind the program is to evoke the inherent fear of heights we have. In the Pit-Vertigo, players can look over the edge of the platform they are on, and they act just as if it were real life (they are very cautious not to fall).
The setup consists of a pair of wooden planks in the floor and an HTC Vive for displaying the VE. The reason of the wooden planks is to add to the realism of the scene, as the participant knows there is a chance of falling from the 5cm-tall real planks if they are not cautious. The added visuals make them think they will fall from the 100m-tall visual height.
Now, to really evoke the fear of people for heights, we ask them to step on the planks, and we cause an explosion that removes the big platform that kept them safe, leaving only the planks the user is stepping on. This progressive transition into the virtual world adds to the sense of presence in that VE.
Then, for the grand finale, we ask them to step off the planks. Finally, I ask the participants to step off the plank to explore the bottom of the world. They experience the feeling of a 100m fall even though they are going down 5cm.
And this is the world that expects for them down there, somewhere to relax on:
Being able to look up to where they came from also surprises them:
Special Thanks: to Amy Banic for her guidance and recommendations for this project.
