Qianyuan (Zac) Zou

Virtual Reality (VR) can be used for design and artistic applications. However, traditional symmetrical input devices are not specifically designed as creative tools and may not fully meet artist needs. In this demonstration, we present a variety of tool-based asymmetric VR interfaces to assist artists to create artwork with better performance and easier effort. These interaction methods allow artists to hold different tools in their hands, such as wearing a data glove on the left hand and holding a stylus in the right-hand. We demonstrate this by showing a stylus and glove based sketching interface. We conducted a pilot study showing that most users prefer to create art with different tools in both hands.

Mainstream Virtual Reality (VR) devices on the market nowadays mostly use symmetric interaction design for input, yet common practice by artists suggests asymmetric interaction using different input tools in each hand could be a better alternative for 3D modeling tasks in VR. In this paper, we explore the performance and usability of a tool-based asymmetric interaction method for a 3D object selection task in VR and compare it with a symmetric interface. The symmetric VR interface uses two identical handheld controllers to select points on a sphere, while the asymmetric interface uses a handheld controller and a stylus. We conducted a user study to compare these two interfaces and found that the asymmetric system was faster, required less workload, and was rated with better usability. We also discuss the opportunities for tool-based asymmetric input to optimize VR art workflows and future research directions.

This research investigates fast and precise Virtual Reality (VR) sketching methods with different tool-based asymmetric interfaces. In traditional real-world drawing, artists commonly employ an asymmetric interaction system where each hand holds different tools, facilitating diverse and nuanced artistic expressions. However, in virtual reality (VR), users are typically limited to using identical tools in both hands for drawing. To bridge this gap, we aim to introduce specifically designed tools in VR that replicate the varied tool configurations found in the real world. Hence, we developed a VR sketching system supporting three hybrid input techniques using a standard VR controller, a VR stylus, or a data glove. We conducted a formal user study consisting of an internal comparative experiment with four conditions and three tasks to compare three asymmetric input methods with each other and with a traditional symmetric controller-based solution based on questionnaires and performance evaluations. The results showed that in contrast to symmetric dual VR controller interfaces, the asymmetric input with gestures significantly reduced task completion times while maintaining good usability and input accuracy with a low task workload. This shows the value of asymmetric input methods for VR sketching. We also found that the overall user experience could be further improved by optimizing the tracking stability of the data glove and the VR stylus.

Virtual reality (VR) controllers are widely used for 3D virtual object selection and manipulation in immersive virtual worlds, while touchscreen-based devices like smartphones or tablets provide precise 2D tangible input. However, VR controllers and touchscreens are used separately in most cases. This research physically integrates a VR controller and a smartphone to create a hybrid 2D–3D tangible interface for VR interactions, combining the strength of both devices. The hybrid interface inherits physical buttons, 3D tracking, and spatial input from the VR controller while having tangible feedback, 2D precise input, and content display from the smartphone’s touchscreen. We review the capabilities of VR controllers and smartphones to summarize design principles and then present a design space with nine typical interaction paradigms for the hybrid interface. We developed an interactive prototype and three application modes to demonstrate the combination of individual interaction paradigms in various VR scenarios. We conducted a formal user study through a guided walkthrough to evaluate the usability of the hybrid interface. The results were positive, with participants reporting above-average usability and rating the system as excellent on four out of six user experience questionnaire scales. We also described two use cases to demonstrate the potential of the hybrid interface.

Li Zhang, Yizhe Liu, Huidong Bai, Qianyuan Zou, Zhuang Chang, Weiping He, Shuxia Wang, and Mark Billinghurst.