Congratulations to Dr. Jonathan Kelly (PI) for receiving a National Science Foundation grant ($499,722) for his research titled “A Spatial Cognitive Framework For Personalizing Locomotion in Virtual Environments”.
Project Summary: The most natural way to explore a virtual environment is to walk, but physical walking is often not possible due to technological limitations and space limitations. Therefore, teleporting has become a popular interface, whereby the user points a virtual laser pointer to the desired location in the virtual environment and is then immediately transported to that location. However, teleporting lacks self-motion cues normally associated with walking. In this project, we explore the spatial cognitive consequences of teleporting and evaluate ways to improve the interface, enhance the virtual environment, and train the user in efforts to improve navigation in virtual reality. The grant is active from 2018 – 2021. More information about Dr. Kelly’s research can be found here.