An experimental investigation of distance perception in real vs. immersive virtual environments via direct blind walking in a high-fidelity model of the same room

Possible methods for facilitating a more accurate perception of egocentric distance in immersive virtual environments (IVE) were developed. Two elements that were considered in the experiment include: to remove the possibility of cognitive dissonance associated with the present virtual environment be different from the real environment and to analyze whether users be provided with short-range haptic feedback about the presence, size, and spatial location of a real object in the virtual environment. It was found that people walked more slowly in the IVE. It was also found that virtual environment (VE) was rendered in full three-dimensional (3D) using photorealistic textures, and was colocated with the real world environment.