Arch-Explore: A natural user interface for immersive architectural walkthroughs

In this paper we propose the Arch-Explore user interface, which supports natural exploration of architectural 3D models at different scales in a real walking virtual reality (VR) environment such as head-mounted display (HMD) or CAVE setups. We discuss in detail how user movements can be transferred to the virtual world to enable walking through virtual indoor environments. To overcome the limited interaction space in small VR laboratory setups, we have implemented redirected walking techniques to support natural exploration of comparably large-scale virtual models. Furthermore, the concept of virtual portals provides a means to cover long distances intuitively within architectural models. We describe the software and hardware setup and discuss benefits of Arch-Explore.