Trade-Offs Related to Travel Techniques and Level of Display Fidelity in Virtual Data-Analysis Environments

Abstract

Because effective navigation in 3D virtual environments (VEs) depends on the specifics of the travel techniques and the display system, we compared two travel techniques (steering and target-based) and two display conditions-a high-fidelity setup (a four-wall display with stereo and head-tracking) and a lower-fidelity setup (a single wall display without stereo or head-tracking). In a controlled experiment, we measured performance on travel-intensive data analysis tasks in a complex underground cave environment. The results suggest that steering may be better suited for high-fidelity immersive VEs, and target-based navigation may offer advantages for less immersive systems. The study also showed significantly worse simulator sickness with higher display fidelity, with an interaction trend suggesting that this effect was intensified by steering.