Virtual reality applications prefer real walking to provide highly immersive presence than other locomotive methods. Mapping-based techniques are very effective for supporting real walking in small physical workspaces while exploring large virtual scenes. However, the existing methods for computing real walking maps suffer from poor quality due to distortion. In this paper, we present a novel divide-and-conquer method, called Smooth Assembly Mapping (SAM), to compute real walking maps with low isometric distortion for large-scale virtual scenes. First, the input virtual scene is decomposed into a set of smaller local patches. Then, a group of local patches is mapped together into a real workspace by minimizing a low isometric distortion energy with smoothness constraints between the adjacent patches. All local patches are mapped and assembled one by one to obtain a complete map. Finally, a global optimization is adopted to further reduce the distortion throughout the entire map. Our method easily handles teleportation technique by computing maps of individual regions and assembling them with teleporter conformity constraints. A large number of experiments, including formative user studies and comparisons, have shown that our method succeeds in generating high-quality real walking maps from large-scale virtual scenes to small real workspaces and is demonstrably superior to state-of-the-art methods.

We propose a novel technique to provide multiuser real walking experiences with physical interactions in virtual reality (VR) applications. In our system, multiple users walk freely while navigating a large virtual environment within a smaller physical workspace. These users can interact with other real users or physical props in the same physical locations. The key of our method is a redirected smooth mapping that incorporates the redirected walking technique to warp the input virtual scene with small bends and low distance distortion. Users possess a wide field of view to explore the mapped virtual environment while being redirected in the real workspace. To keep multiple users away from the overlaps of the mapped virtual scenes, we present an automatic collision avoidance technique based on dynamic virtual avatars. These avatars naturally appear, move, and disappear, producing as little influence as possible on users’ walking experiences. We evaluate our multiuser real walking system through formative user studies, and demonstrate the capability and practicability of our technique in two multiuser applications.

Some artists peel citrus fruits into a variety of elegant 2D shapes, depicting animals, plants, and cartoons. It is a creative art form, called Citrus Peeling Art. This art form follows the conservation principle, i.e., each shape must be created using one entire peel. Central to this art is finding optimal cut lines so that the citruses can be cut and unfolded into the desired shapes. However, it is extremely difficult for users to imagine and generate cuts for their desired shapes. To this end, we present a computational method for citrus peeling art designs. Our key insight is that instead of solving the difficult cut generation problem, we map a designed input shape onto a citrus in an attempt to cover the entire citrus and use the mapped boundary to generate the cut paths. Sometimes, a mapped shape is unable to completely cover a citrus. Consequently, we have developed five customized ways of interaction that are used to rectify the input shape so that it is suitable for citrus peeling art. The mapping process and user interactions are iteratively conducted to satisfy a user's design intentions. A large number of experiments, including a formative user study, demonstrate the capability and practicability of our method for peeling art design and construction.

In virtual reality (VR), the virtual scenes are pre-designed by creators. Our physical surroundings, however, comprise significantly varied sizes, layouts, and components. To bridge the gap and further enable natural navigation, recent solutions have been proposed to redirect users or recreate the virtual content. However, they suffer from either interrupted experience or distorted appearances. We present a novel VR-oriented algorithm that automatically restructures a given virtual scene for a user’s physical environment. Different from the previous methods, we introduce neither interrupted walking experience nor curved appearances. Instead, a perception-aware function optimizes our retargeting technique to preserve the fidelity of the virtual scene that appears in VR head-mounted displays. Besides geometric and topological properties, it emphasizes the unique first-person view perceptual factors in VR, such as dynamic visibility and objectwise relationships. We conduct both analytical experiments and subjective studies. The results demonstrate our system’s versatile capability and practicability for natural navigation in VR: It reduces the virtual space by 40% without statistical loss of perceptual identicality.