An Exploration of The Effects of Head-Centric Rest Frames On Egocentric Distance Judgments in VR

Users tend to underestimate distances in virtual reality (VR), and several efforts have been directed toward finding the causes and developing tools that mitigate this phenomenon. One hypothesis that stands out in the field of spatial perception is the rest frame hypothesis (RFH), which states that visual frames of reference (RFs), defined as fixed reference points of view in a virtual environment (VE), contribute to minimizing sensory mismatch. RFs have been shown to promote better eye-gaze stability and focus, reduce VR sickness, and improve visual search, along with other benefits. However, their effect on distance perception in VEs has not been evaluated. In this paper, we use a blind walking task to explore the effect of three head-centric RFs (mesh mask, nose, and hat) on egocentric distance estimation. We found that at near and mid-field distances, certain RFs can improve the user’s distance estimation accuracy and reduce distance underestimation. These findings mean that the addition of head-centric RFs, a simple avatar augmentation method, can lead to meaningful improvements in distance judgments, user experience, and task performance in VR.