Redirection Detection Thresholds for Avatar Manipulation with Different Body Parts

This study investigates how both the body part used to control a VR avatar and the avatar's appearance affect redirection detection thresholds. We conducted experiments comparing hand and foot manipulation of two types of avatars: a hand-shaped avatar and an abstract spherical avatar. Our results show that, irrespective of the body part used, the redirection detection threshold increased by 21% when using the hand avatar compared to the abstract avatar. Additionally, when the avatar's position was redirected toward the body midline, the detection threshold increased by 49% compared to redirection away from the midline. No significant differences in detection thresholds were observed between the hand and foot manipulations. These findings suggest that avatar appearance and redirection direction significantly influence user perception in VR environments, offering valuable insights for the design of full-body VR interactions and human augmentation systems.