DepthText: Leveraging Head Movements towards the Depth Dimension for Hands-free Text Entry in Mobile Virtual Reality Systems

Text entry is a common activity in virtual reality (VR) systems. However, there is a limited number of approaches available for mobile VR systems, where it might be inconvenient for users to carry an input device. We propose a novel hands-free text entry technique we call DepthText which leverages the acceleration sensing abilities of built-in IMU sensors of mobile VR systems. Users are able to enter text by moving their head forward. The results of a 5-day study indicate that users can achieve an average of 10.76 words per minute (wpm) on the last day with low errors. This performance is comparable to the dwell-based technique which is the most common way of entering text that is hands-free. One advantage of DepthText over the dwell-based technique is that users can have more control of the pace of selecting characters, rather than being pushed by a pre-set dwell time.