Future Vision in Virtual Reality

Abstract

This thesis investigates how room-scale virtual reality can be used to visualise the potential and current benefits of assistive technologies in your average home. Current solutions allows you to view an apartment through the use of virtual reality devices such as the HTC Vive, but not move around or interact with the environment. Thus, true room-scale virtual reality could be just what is needed to visualise the potential. A key research point has therefore been how different virtual reality devices can be adapted and integrated with our solution. As there are multiple room-scale solutions used in games, tourism, media and marketing, we decided that a prototype application should be developed from the ground up, using the Unity game engine. The requirements for the application at this stage are based on the needs of someone with mobility impairment. That will be the scenario we base our prototype, and the solution can later in the future be expanded to include other scenarios. The same group of people tested the prototype, and the results showed that room-scale virtual reality can be an immersive and realistic experience and is a suitable medium for demonstrating the use and application of different assistive technologies.