Dynamic Viewpoint Tethering for Navigation in Large-Scale Virtual Environments

Dynamic viewpoint tethering is an innovative display technique which has been proposed to support effective navigation in large-scale virtual environments, by integrating information from different frames of reference. The present study examines the effect of dynamic viewpoint tethering on performance, with respect to both local guidance and global awareness measures, in comparison with three conventional display formats: egocentric, exocentric and rigidly tethered displays. Participants were instructed to control an aircraft-shaped cursor navigating in a virtual tunnel and to answer questions about the environment. The results confirmed that global awareness performance decreased with increased egocentricity in the display frame of reference. The two tethered displays (dynamic and rigid) supported the best local guidance performance. No significant performance differences were found between the two tethered displays.