Home > Vol. 1, No. 1

International Journal of Recent Trends in Engineering (IJRTE)

ISSN 1797-9617

Volume 1,  Number 1,  May 2009

Issue on Computer Science

Page(s): 52-56

Low-Cost Multiple Degrees-of-Freedom Optical Tracking for 3D Interaction in Head-Mounted Display Virtual Reality

           Yang-Wai Chow

Full text:  PDF

Abstract

Interacting with the 3D content present in games and virtual environments generally involves some form of 3D interaction. As such, the design and development of 3D spatial interaction devices are important in creating more realistic and immersive user experiences in 3D virtual environment applications through natural and intuitive human expression. In general, current commercially available 3D input devices for virtual reality applications like data gloves, multiple DOF sensors and trackers, etc. typically come with a heavy price tag. The objective of this research is to investigate an approach to setting up an inexpensive 6-DOF optical tracking system using Wii Remotes, which is adequate for 3D interaction in an interactive Head-Mounted Display (HMD) virtual reality system. For the purpose of HMD virtual reality, a user should ideally be able to use a 3D interaction device in a space surrounding the user. This cannot be achieved when using this game controller in the conventional manner. Also, normal usage of the controller only allows for relative positioning and cannot reliably track 6-DOF. This paper outlines a method of using Wii Remotes for 3D spatial interaction in an area surrounding the user. This paper also presents experimental results conducted in order to benchmark the accuracy of the system, by comparing the system’s position and orientation estimates with the readings obtained from a commercial 6-DOF magnetic tracker.

Index Terms

3D input device, optical tracking, virtual reality, Wii Remote

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