![[Table of Contents]](/icons/button-contents.gif){kind=icon}
by Mark Draper
University of Washington
1995
Approved by____________________________________________
Chairperson of Supervisory Committee
Program Authorized
to Offer Degree___________________________________________
Date____________________________________________________
Master's Thesis
In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master's degree at the University of Washington, I agree that the Library shall make its copies freely available for inspection. I further agree that extensive copying of this thesis is allowable only for scholarly purposes, consistent with "fair use" as prescribed in the U.S. Copyright Law. Any other reproduction for any purpose or by any means shall not be allowed without my written permission.
Signature_________________________
Date_____________________________
University of Washington
Exploring the Influence of a Virtual Body on Spatial Awareness
by Mark Draper
Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Tom Furness, Ph.D.
Department of Engineering
Three virtual reality (VR) studies were conducted to explore the potential for a virtual body (VB) to enhance a participant's spatial awareness of a new virtual environment by providing an invariant, subtle point of reference for object positioning and scaling. The task in the first two studies was a two-phase search-and-replace task in which VB configuration (full-body, no-body), target size (3", 9", 15"), and room contextual level (low, high) were manipulated. Subjects had complete freedom of movement. In Study 2, subjects received restrictions on their physical movement (i.e., no squatting). The results of both studies indicate that target replacement accuracies were very high for all conditions. There was no effect of VB configuration. In addition, increased room context appears to have aided the memorization and replacement of targets, especially the existence of the tiled floor. The task in Study 3 was estimation of maximum virtual reach in which VB configuration (full-body, no-body) and target height (low, medium, high) were manipulated. The results indicate that estimations of reach were more accurate for lower target heights, although this may be in part due to the more richly textured background that existed at this height. A complex interaction between VB configuration and target height also surfaced.
In researching and compiling this thesis, the author has received encouragement and assistance from several individuals. His gratitude and thanks goes to the following:
The supervisory committee:
Dr. Tom Furness, Professor of Industrial Engineering and Director of the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HITL), for providing overall wisdom, counsel, and direction to this research and for serving as the chairperson of my committee.
Dr. Maxwell Wells, Assistant Director of the HITL, for providing continuous day-to-day guidance, problem-solving clout, useful advice, and a strong focus to this research.
Dr. Valerie Gawron, Principal Human Factors Engineer at Calspan Advanced Technology Center, for her tremendous knowledge of research practices, her thoughtful, detailed feedback/advice on work-in-progress, and her words of encouragement when the going got rough.
Dr. Davida Teller, Professor and Vision Psychologist at the University of Washington, for providing me with a high quality education and counsel in the visual sciences.
Significant others along the way:
Mr. Paul Schwartz, a HITL software specialist, for providing quality software support and for his dedication to finding solutions that to the various hardware/software glitches that sprung up during the course of this research. Paul's efforts were instrumental in getting this work past all the technical hurdles and bringing about its successful completion.
Toni Emerson, The HITL librarian/cybrarian, for her quality assistance in the obtaining of pertinent technical resources.
Dr. Jeff Caird, for information on his research in the areas of virtual bodies and spatial scale.
Dr. Mel Slater, for information regarding his research and on his implementation of a virtual body.
Ove Bjorneseth, a fellow graduate student and friend, for helping me obtain the virtual body geometry used in this research.
Maria Draper, my loving wife, for her understanding and support during the many long hours.