Evaluation of Low Cost Controllers for Mobile Based Virtual Reality Headsets By Summer Lindsey Bachelor of Arts Psychology Florida Institute of Technology May 2015 A thesis Submitted to the College of Aeronautics at Florida Institute of Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science In Aviation Human Factors Melbourne, Florida April 2017 © Copyright 2017 Summer Lindsey All Rights Reserved The author grants permission to make single copies. _________________________________ The undersigned committee, having examined the attached thesis " Evaluation of Low Cost Controllers for Mobile Based Virtual Reality Headsets," by Summer Lindsey hereby indicates its unanimous approval. _________________________________ Deborah Carstens, Ph.D. Professor and Graduate Program Chair College of Aeronautics Major Advisor _________________________________ Meredith Carroll, Ph.D. Associate Professor College of Aeronautics Committee Member _________________________________ Neil Ganey, Ph.D. Human Factors Engineer Northrop Grumman Committee Member _________________________________ Christian Sonnenberg, Ph.D. Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean College of Business Committee Member _________________________________ Korhan Oyman, Ph.D. Dean and Professor College of Aeronautics Abstract Title: Evaluation of Low Cost Controllers for Mobile Based Virtual Reality Headsets Author: Summer Lindsey Major Advisor: Dr. Deborah Carstens Virtual Reality (VR) is no longer just for training purposes. The consumer VR market has become a large part of the VR world and is growing at a rapid pace. In spite of this growth, there is no standard controller for VR. This study evaluated three different controllers: a gamepad, the Leap Motion, and a touchpad as means of interacting with a virtual environment (VE). There were 23 participants that performed a matching task while wearing a Samsung Gear VR mobile based VR headset. Measures of performance, preference, presence, and enjoyment were collected and compared across controller. Overall, it was seen that Leap Motions performance effected its other scores and was the least preferred controller. The touchpad resulted in the highest presence scores without notable performance issues. However, the gamepad was the most preferred controller based on its ease of use and pre-established history with users. Based on the results of this study, recommendations for VR companies and developers were made as well as areas of future research to further improve the user experience of consumer VR. Keywords: virtual reality, controllers, usability, Leap Motion, mobile VR iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................... iii List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................. vi Acknowledgement ................................................................................................. vii Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 Problem Statement ................................................................................................. 1 Background ............................................................................................................ 2 Operational Definitions .......................................................................................... 3 Preference ........................................................................................................... 4 Presence .............................................................................................................. 4 Performance ....................................................................................................... 4 Controller ........................................................................................................... 4 Research Question & Hypotheses .......................................................................... 5 Hypotheses: ........................................................................................................ 5 Potential Significance and Generalizability ........................................................... 6 Chapter 2 Literature Review .................................................................................. 8 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 8 Virtual Reality Experience ..................................................................................... 9 Interaction Influences on Presence ................................................................... 10 Virtual Reality Controllers ................................................................................... 13 Optimal controller depends on the game ......................................................... 13 Breaking the controller norm ........................................................................... 15 Menu Interaction Styles in Virtual Reality .......................................................... 18 Leap Motion as an Input Device .......................................................................... 22 Chapter 3 Methods ................................................................................................. 27 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 27 Participants ........................................................................................................... 27 Instruments & Materials....................................................................................... 29 Controllers ........................................................................................................ 29 Setup ................................................................................................................. 30 Measurements .................................................................................................. 31 Procedure ............................................................................................................. 32 Research Design ............................................................................................... 32 Task .................................................................................................................. 33 Data Analysis ................................................................................................... 35 Chapter 4 Results ................................................................................................... 37 Qualitative Findings ............................................................................................. 39 Quantitative Findings ........................................................................................... 41 iv Chapter 5 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 44 Overview .............................................................................................................. 44 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 45 Preference ......................................................................................................... 45 Presence ............................................................................................................ 48 Performance ..................................................................................................... 49 Enjoyment ........................................................................................................ 50 Recommendations ................................................................................................ 50 Limitations ........................................................................................................... 52 Future Research.................................................................................................... 53 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 54 References ............................................................................................................... 56 Appendix A – Instruction Script & Sheet ............................................................ 63 Appendix B Pre-Survey ......................................................................................... 65 Appendix C Presence Survey ................................................................................ 66 Appendix D Preference Rating & Comment Table ............................................ 68 v List of Abbreviations HMD: Head Mounted Device IRB: Institutional Review Board MANOVA: Multivariate Analysis of Variance PC: Personal Computer SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences VE: Virtual Environment VR: Virtual Reality vi Acknowledgement I would like to thank Dr. Deborah Carstens and Dr. Meredith Carroll for the unabating support throughout the development, implementation, and evaluation of this research in addition to being the most involved and dedicated professors I know. I would like to thank Dr. Neil Ganey for supporting and encouraging this research as well as inspiring myself to reach heights I thought not possible. I also thank my outside committee member, Dr. Christian Sonnenberg for his valuable