Discussion

Discussion of how viewing and interacting with your world is different in the simulator and the headset.

Though the user is viewing the same environment with the headset and the simulator the experience is completely different. One of the main differences when comparing both these platforms is the level of immersion the project has on its user. This project's main goal is to help a user deal with their different phobias, such as fear of heights, spiders, and in this case carnivals. Being in the headset environment allows the user to see life-like proportions of each and every object. This immerses the user by making them feel aspects such as depth and focus. Users are able to see the world in a different perspective. On the contrary, exploring the circus environment with the simulator limits the objects to the perspective of the computer screen, which in some cases can be quite small. This makes the simulator feel as though it is more of a game on the computer instead of a world in which you can interact with.

Another aspect I feel is different between the simulator and the headset is the sense of motion. Though the animations of objects are the same in the simulator and the headset, the movement of things such as the controllers or the camera feel much different. On the headset, the motion of the camera is fixed to the motion of your head. This adds to the feeling of immersion, since the user controls the program using their physical body. On the other hand motion on the simulator is fixed to the A,S,D,W keys and the mouse. Motion in the simulator feels much more linear compared to the motion of the simulator. The headset allows the user to move around in all x ,y , and z directions, meaning the user is able to physically crouch, crawl, or go on their tiptoes using their physical bodies. Users are also able to tilt their heads, and look up and down, as well as tilt their controllers. Since the natural way we move is not perfectly linear, like on the simulator, the view of the world feels much more immersive.

To continue with the subject of motion, the way the user interacts with the world feels much more different. On both the simulator and the headset, users are able to pick up and throw objects in the carnival. Though on the simulator the motion feels very linear and unnatural when trying to throw an object, due to the fact that the controllers are at a fixed point and the user must only use a single finger with the mouse pad to throw the object. When picking up objects, the object unnaturally is fixed to the controller and does not tilt or move. The headset on the other hand allows the full motion of the arm to throw an object. Users are able to pick up objects and thoroughly examine the object. They can pick it up, view each side, and even bring it closer to their eyes, something they are not able to do in the simulator. Throwing objects on the headset feel very realistic and natural. Having these types of interactions on the headset makes the environment feel more real.

Finally a strong difference between interacting with the environment in the simulator vs the headset has to do with speed and efficiency of interacting with objects and roaming the space. In the simulator, the user uses one hand for moving around the space and one hand to rotate the camera and pick up objects. On the headset users use their body motion to move around, look around, and pick up objects. Because of this I feel as though it is much easier to move around and interact with the world in the headset because it is more natural. Users don’t need to think in terms of a mouse and keyboard, but instead on their movement which comes naturally.. This offloads mental bandwidth and allows the user to only focus on the environment they are in and not trying to remember which button to press.

Though both headset and simulator share similarities, both have two different experiences when interacting with a virtual world. The simulator is a great tool to test the basic functionality of a project, but to feel much more immersion, using the headset will allow the user to feel much more.