Towards the Improvement of Virtual Reality Inventory Systems

Date of Award

12-1-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Computer Science

First Advisor

Eric Cesar E. Vidal, Jr., PhDMaria Mercedes T. Rodrigo, PhD

Abstract

Applications involving virtual reality (VR), especially VR-based video games, integrate multiple gameplay mechanics. One such mechanic is an inventory system, which is a way for a player to manage their items in an easy and convenient manner. This study aims to iterate upon previous studies and implementations of inventory management to produce a new inventory system framework for use in VR adventure and serious games, with a primary focus on improving ease of use, convenience, and accessibility for a more refined and more immersive experience. The framework allows for different modalities, including control via vision-based hand tracking and traditional controllers. The study finds that the inventory systems implemented using the framework were able to satisfy essential user requirements criteria and improve upon existing implementations found in related literature, indicating that the framework is functional. Furthermore, implementing improvements based on the user requirements criteria and initial participant feedback, some inventory system types have seen an increase in terms of perceived immersion and convenience. More specifically, improvements to the Slots anchored to hand type has made it as the most immersive and convenient among the five implementations, while the rest are simply up to par with implementations found in literature. Additionally, the study also finds that vision-based hand tracking provides a similar user experience as traditional controllers in terms of immersion, despite some tracking inaccuracies experienced when utilizing the former modality.

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