The VR Book: Human-Centered Design for Virtual Reality

636 Pages·2015·122.23 MB·English

by  Jason Jerald

J
E
The VR Book
R
A
Human-Centered Design for Virtual Reality L
D The VR Book
Jason Jerald, Ph.D., NextGen Interactions
“The definitive guide for creating VR user interactions.”
Human-Centered Design
—Amir Rubin, Co-Founder and CEO of Sixense
“Conceptually comprehensive, yet at the same time practical and grounded in real-
for Virtual Reality
world experience.“
—Paul Mlyniec, President of Digital ArtForms and father of MakeVR
Dr. Jerald has recognized a great need in our community and filled it. The VR Book is T
a scholarly and comprehensive treatment of the user interface dynamics surrounding
H
the development and application of virtual reality. I have made it a required reading
for my students and research colleagues. Well done!
E
—Prof. Tom Furness, University of Washington, VR Pioneer and
Founder of HIT Lab International and the Virtual World Society
V
R
Virtual reality (VR) can provide our minds with direct access to digital media in a way that
seemingly has no limits. However, creating compelling VR experiences is an incredibly com-

plex challenge. When VR is done well, the results are brilliant and pleasurable experiences B
that go beyond what we can do in the real world. When VR is done badly, not only is the sys-
O
tem frustrating to use, but it can result in sickness. There are many causes of bad VR; some
failures come from the limitations of technology, but many come from a lack of understanding
O
perception, interaction, design principles, and real users.
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This book discusses these issues by emphasizing the human element of VR. The fact is, if
we do not get the human element correct, then no amount of technology will make VR any-
thing more than an interesting tool confined to research laboratories. Even when VR principles
are fully understood, the first implementation is rarely novel and almost never ideal due to the
complex nature of VR and the countless possibilities that can be created. The VR principles
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discussed in this book will enable readers to intelligently experiment with the rules and itera- C
M
tively design towards innovative experiences.
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ABOUT ACM BOOKS O Jason Jerald, Ph.D.
R
G
ACM Books is a new series of high quality books for
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M the computer science community, published by ACM N
&Cin collaboration with Morgan & Claypool Publishers. &
ACM Books publications are widely distributed in C
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both print and digital formats through booksellers ISBN: 978-1-97000-112-9 A M
and to libraries (and library consortia) and individual ACM members via the ACM 90000 Y
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Digital Library platform.
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9 781970 001129
BOOKS.ACM.ORG • WWW.MORGANCLAYPOOL.COM L
The VR Book

ACM Books
EditorinChief
M.TamerO¨zsu,UniversityofWaterloo
ACMBooksisanewseriesofhigh-qualitybooksforthecomputersciencecommunity,
published by ACM in collaboration with Morgan & Claypool Publishers. ACM Books
publicationsarewidelydistributedinbothprintanddigitalformatsthroughbooksellers
andtolibraries(andlibraryconsortia)andindividualACMmembersviatheACMDigital
Libraryplatform.
TheVRBook:Human-CenteredDesignforVirtualReality
JasonJerald,NextGenInteractions
2016
Ada’sLegacy
RobinHammerman,StevensInstituteofTechnology;AndrewL.Russell,StevensInstituteof
Technology
2016
EdmundBerkeleyandtheSocialResponsibilityofComputerProfessionals
BernadetteLongo,NewJerseyInstituteofTechnology
2015
CandidateMultilinearMaps
SanjamGarg,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley
2015
SmarterthanTheirMachines:OralHistoriesofPioneersinInteractiveComputing
John Cullinane, Northeastern University; Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business
andGovernment,JohnF.KennedySchoolofGovernment,HarvardUniversity
2015
AFrameworkforScientificDiscoverythroughVideoGames
SethCooper,UniversityofWashington
2014
TrustExtensionasaMechanismforSecureCodeExecutiononCommodityComputers
BryanJeffreyParno,MicrosoftResearch
2014
EmbracingInterferenceinWirelessSystems
ShyamnathGollakota,UniversityofWashington
2014
The VR Book
Human-Centered Design
for Virtual Reality
Jason Jerald
NextGenInteractions
ACMBooks#8
Copyright©2016bytheAssociationforComputingMachinery
andMorgan&ClaypoolPublishers
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,
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Thisbookispresentedsolelyforeducationalandentertainmentpurposes.Theauthorand
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Whilebesteffortshavebeenusedinpreparingthisbook,theauthorandpublishermakeno
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TheVRBook:Human-CenteredDesignforVirtualReality
JasonJerald
books.acm.org
www.morganclaypool.com
ISBN:978-1-97000-112-9 paperback
ISBN:978-1-97000-113-6 ebook
ISBN:978-1-62705-114-3 ePub
ISBN:978-1-97000-115-0 hardcover
SeriesISSN: 2374-6769print 2374-6777electronic
ApublicationintheACMBooksseries,#8
EditorinChief:M.TamerO¨zsu,UniversityofWaterloo
AreaEditor:JohnC.Hart,UniversityofIllinois
FirstEdition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
DOIs
10.1145/2792790 Book
10.1145/2792790.2792791 Preface/Intro 10.1145/2792790.2792810 Chap.16 10.1145/2792790.2792829 Chap.32
10.1145/2792790.2792792 PartI 10.1145/2792790.2792811 Chap.17 10.1145/2792790.2792830 Chap.33
10.1145/2792790.2792793 Chap.1 10.1145/2792790.2792812 Chap.18 10.1145/2792790.2792831 Chap.34
10.1145/2792790.2792794 Chap.2 10.1145/2792790.2792813 Chap.19 10.1145/2792790.2792832 PartVII
10.1145/2792790.2792795 Chap.3 10.1145/2792790.2792814 PartIV 10.1145/2792790.2792833 Chap.35
10.1145/2792790.2792796 Chap.4 10.1145/2792790.2792815 Chap.20 10.1145/2792790.2792834 Chap.36
10.1145/2792790.2792797 Chap.5 10.1145/2792790.2792816 Chap.21 10.1145/2792790.2792835 AppendixA
10.1145/2792790.2792798 PartII 10.1145/2792790.2792817 Chap.22 10.1145/2792790.2792836 AppendixB
10.1145/2792790.2792799 Chap.6 10.1145/2792790.2792818 Chap.23 10.1145/2792790.2792837 Glossary/Refs
10.1145/2792790.2792800 Chap.7 10.1145/2792790.2792819 Chap.24
10.1145/2792790.2792801 Chap.8 10.1145/2792790.2792821 Chap.25
10.1145/2792790.2792802 Chap.9 10.1145/2792790.2792820 PartV
10.1145/2792790.2792803 Chap.10 10.1145/2792790.2792822 Chap.26
10.1145/2792790.2792804 Chap.11 10.1145/2792790.2792823 Chap.27
10.1145/2792790.2792805 PartIII 10.1145/2792790.2792824 Chap.28
10.1145/2792790.2792806 Chap.12 10.1145/2792790.2792825 Chap.29
10.1145/2792790.2792807 Chap.13 10.1145/2792790.2792826 PartVI
10.1145/2792790.2792808 Chap.14 10.1145/2792790.2792827 Chap.30
10.1145/2792790.2792809 Chap.15 10.1145/2792790.2792828 Chap.31

This book is dedicated to the entire community of VR researchers, developers, de-
signers, entrepreneurs, managers, marketers, andusers.Itistheirpassionfor, and
contributionsto,VRthatmakesthisallpossible.Withoutthiscommunity,working
inisolationwouldmakeVRaninterestingnicheresearchprojectthatcouldneither
besharednorimproveduponbyothers.Ifyouchoosetojointhiscommunity,your
pursuit of VR experiences may very well be the most intense years of your life, but
youwillfindtherewardswellworththeeffort.Perhapsthegreatestrewardswillcome
fromtheusersofyourexperiences—forifyoudoVRwellthenyouruserswilltellyou
howyouhavechangedtheirlives—andthatishowwechangetheworld.
TherearemanyfacetstoVRcreation, rangingfromgettingthetechnologyright,
sometimes during exhausting overnight sessions, to the fascinating and abundant
collaborationwithothersintheVRcommunity.Attimes,whatweareembarkingon
canfeeloverwhelming.Whenthathappens,IlooktoaquotebyGeorgeBernardShaw
postedonmywallandamremindedaboutthejoyofbeingapartoftheVRrevolution.
Thisisthetruejoyinlife,thebeingusedforapurposerecognizedbyyourselfasa
mightyone;thebeingaforceofnature . . . Iamoftheopinionthatmylifebelongs
tothewholecommunityandaslongasIliveitismyprivilegetodoforitwhatever
Ican.IwanttobethoroughlyusedupwhenIdie,fortheharderIwork,themore
Ilive.Irejoiceinlifeforitsownsake.Lifeisno“briefcandle”tome.Itissortofa
splendidtorchwhichIhaveaholdofforthemoment,andIwanttomakeitburnas
brightlyaspossiblebeforehandingitovertofuturegenerations.
ThisbookisthusdedicatedtotheVRcommunityandthefuturegenerationsthat
willcreatemanyvirtualworldsaswellaschangetherealworld.Mypurposeinwriting
thisbookistowelcomeothersintothisVRcommunity,tohelpfuelaVRrevolution
thatchangestheworldandthewayweinteractwithitandeachother, inwaysthat
haveneverbeforebeenpossible—untilnow.