Assisted walking-in-place: Introducing assisted motion to walking-by-cycling in embodied virtual reality

In this paper, we investigate the use of a motorized bike to support the walk of a self-avatar in virtual reality (VR). While existing walking-in-place (WIP) techniques render compelling walking experiences, they can be judged repetitive and strenuous. Our approach consists in assisting a WIP technique so that the user does not have to actively move in order to reduce effort and fatigue. We chose to assist a technique called walking-by-cycling, which consists in mapping the cycling motion of a bike onto the walking of the user's self-avatar, by using a motorized bike. We expected that our approach could provide participants with a compelling walking experience while reducing the effort required to navigate. We conducted a within-subjects study where we compared “assisted walking-by-cycling” to a traditional active walking-by-cycling implementation, and to a standard condition where the user is static. In the study, we measured embodiment, including ownership and agency, walking sensation, perceived effort and fatigue. Results showed that assisted walking-by-cycling induced more ownership, agency, and walking sensation than the static simulation. Additionally, assisted walking-by-cycling induced levels of ownership and walking sensation similar to that of active walking-by-cycling, but it induced less perceived effort. Taken together, this work promotes the use of assisted walking-by-cycling in situations where users cannot or do not want to exert much effort while walking in embodied VR such as for injured or disabled users, for prolonged uses, medical rehabilitation, or virtual visits.