VR-Design: User Interface

This article is the fourth in the series about the qualitative development of VR projects. Earlier we learned the basics of working with sound in the article “Sound Effects in Virtual Worlds” . Links to other materials can be found in the review article .

User Interface is the direct interaction between man and machine. This is the means by which the computer notifies us about the possibilities, and we give it our intentions.

The quality and predictability of communication largely influence how we perceive software and how quickly we achieve our goals.
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The User Interface (UI) is very important, and when developing our VR projects we need to pay attention to this aspect.

Especially interesting in the development of virtual reality are new ways of interaction : head position, gaze direction and motion controllers on hands. They offer us, as developers, new options for implementing the interface.

But new problems also arise, since interaction with these devices is much more difficult - for example, clicking the mouse is much easier to recognize than an implicit gesture on the controller.

An ideal UI should be clear, discreet and intuitive, so that the actions themselves suggest themselves. How to achieve this high goal in VR development, we will look further in more detail.

Touchable User Interface

Best of all, when custom elements are integrated into the 3D world. In classic 2D interfaces, it is very important to create an abstraction of appearance and interaction. There is no reason for this in VR - on the contrary: we are improving the interaction, making the interface concrete and tangible.

For example, it is worthwhile to place the light switch directly on the wall, and not on a plane suspended in the air.

Such interaction is perceived more intuitively, and in addition we use for our own purposes a huge number of habits trained in real life and create a pleasant and understandable impression.



These features challenge us as designers. We must part with the old way of thinking and past knowledge and find new ideas and concepts. In the VR world, there is no “OK” button, as, for example, in classic 3D games, here we can press with our own hands. And the number of cartridges in the shooter can not be simply displayed on the display, their number should be visible in the machine shop.

Perhaps there should be no notifications at all and we should look into the store ourselves. Anton Hand shows in his weekly videos an exciting interaction change with controllers in the virtual world:

Copy from real life

To move to a new way of thinking, it is useful to take everyday life as a role model. How do you interact every day with the world and various objects?

If you are attentive, you will quickly notice that User Interfaces are everywhere, not just in the digital world: this applies to both your toaster and the door of the house. In the real world, there are also good and bad interfaces.

Most likely, you have already met with a bad UI door . It does not provide the right communication, it is unclear in which direction it should be opened.



Given this fact, it is important that virtual interfaces provide feedback.

With the help of visual and sound effects, animation, you can notify users about whether they have successfully passed their action.

In the virtual world it can be useful to make these alerts brighter than in the real world.

First of all, such mechanical elements as buttons, levers, switches, valves and sliding mechanisms are interesting.

When working with some controllers, you can also set different vibration strengths to further alert the user. For example, Valve makes great use of this feature in the Longbow demo: while you are aiming from a bow, the controller amplifies the vibration, and you hear the sound effect of a taut string that is getting louder. This combination of effects leaves a lasting impression.

Accurate reproduction of physics is not always justified.

Programmers quickly come to mind to resort to the simulation of physics. All modern engines are already equipped with the appropriate modules.

However, there are situations when you should not resort to accurate simulation and you should slightly exaggerate the influence of physical laws.

How good your interaction is and whether it needs such adjustments can only be found in the virtual world. Therefore, you should always have VR glasses at hand to achieve the perfect balance during the tests.

If you work with Unity3D, then you should have a look at the NewtonVR Framework at least once. The Open Source Project offers a cool foundation for VR interactions and sums up almost the entire experience of Tomorrow Today Labs Teams .

Coherence is important

In order not to interfere with immersion, it is also very important that interactions - in simple terms, the rules of the virtual world - are the same.

This means that if in your VR-world some object can be picked up and dragged, then this should apply to all objects.

For example, you can not put on the table a mug with which you can interact, next to a static bottle. As soon as the user tries to take the bottle in his hand, and nothing happens, your virtual world will immediately cease to seem real.

In such cases, you have to think very carefully in advance about the structure of your world and not arrange the elements with which you cannot interact. Another solution to this problem is to position static objects so that they are located out of reach.

Examples

Much of this topic is abstract, so I would like to show some concrete examples of good interaction in VR.

In the game Fantastic Contraptions we will immediately find two great ideas. The materials that the players need for their designs, they get from the flying cat Neko.



In order to go to the main menu during the game, no button is provided, you just need to put on a special helmet (an object in the game), thanks to this you get to the menu. Starting the game is easy again: remove the helmet.



The inventory in The Gallery from Cloudhead Games is also very exciting: you turn around and pull out your virtual backpack forward. There you can find all your inventory. Backpack you no longer need? Just bring him back.

In Hover Junkers, players use a kind of 3D navigation panel to control the ship, while at the same time they can fight with the enemy with the other hand.



A bit more abstract, for example, the selection menu in Tilbrush. It is very simple in terms of interaction and intuitive for any user.

Dive deeper into the subject

The User Interface Theme also depends on Game Design. This big topic will soon be devoted to another article.

Designers from Leap Motion have already experimented in the field of VR UI and have gathered a lot of experience, which they constantly share in their blog and in video . If you want to take this topic more seriously, I strongly advise you to familiarize yourself with this material.

Brownboxing offers an interesting approach. Interaction in VR is modeled by paper and boxes. So ideas can be tested very quickly and without programming. Here is an example:



Very informative are both videos and Mike Alger's thesis. He mainly concentrates on the possible interaction of operating systems and browsers with VR, he perfectly presented his thoughts:



And then you will find his second video.

I hope this first excursion into the world of interaction with VR inspired you and gave you determination, as your ideas about interaction need to be expanded, greatly expanded, and experimented with this.

Not all ideas on interaction in VR are invented, and you can participate in their creation or discovery.

If you wish, you can contact me to share ideas or discuss a specific project. Together we will be able to find better ways to interact or solve technical problems.

In the next article, we will focus on the contents of scenes in VR, talk about the impact and responsibility that is assigned to us, as VR developers.