Increasing Virtual Reality Immersion Through Smartwatch Lower Limb Motion Tracking

Virtual reality locomotion has been a subject of study as it plays an important role that affects immersion and presence. Walking constitute a challenging interaction in virtual reality installments as it is a complex task to recreate. Some approaches have focused on input devices employing diverse technologies including robotics, omnidirectional treadmills, reorientation through tracking, and most recently, inertial measurement units, optical tracking, and low-friction surfaces. Amongst the various solutions, those targeting consumer-level VR products are gaining momentum as VR headsets become more affordable, creating the opportunity to mass impact content creation in entertainment, tourism, healthcare, training, education, and simulation applications employing VR. In this paper, we present the development of a lower limb virtual reality room-scale environment where users walk while using a Smartwatch as a tool to capture walking data without requiring external sensors or tracking systems. A preliminary study focused on a usability assessment to gather perceptions on the use of a smartwatch as a suitable tracking tool for VR installments.