Abstract
Typical VR interactions can be tiring, including standing up, walking, and mid-air gestures. Such interactions result in decreased comfort and session duration compared with traditional non-VR interfaces, which may, in turn, reduce productivity. Nevertheless, current approaches often neglect this aspect, making the VR experience not as promising as it can be. As we see it, desk VR experiences provide the convenience and comfort of a desktop experience and the benefits of VR immersion, being a good compromise between the overall experience and ergonomics. In this work, we explore navigation techniques targeted at desk VR users, using both controllers and a large multi-touch surface. We address travel and orientation techniques independently, considering only continuous approaches for travel as these are better suited for exploration and both continuous and discrete approaches for orientation. Results revealed advantages for a continuous controller-based travel method and a trend for a dragging-based orientation technique. Also, we identified possible trends towards task focus affecting overall cybersickness symptomatology.

Abstract
We present VR Designer, a tool for expediting the creation 3D scenes inside VR. It uses controllers and voice commands to create and manipulate primitives and objects imported from openly available repositories. We use modifiers to accelerate repetitive tasks, resorting to procedural content creation techniques to automate the workflow. The tool allows non-expert users to quickly create scenes for contexts such as training or education. We also conducted a user study to validate VR Designer.

Abstract

Abstract
Immersive Interactive 360° videos, experienced through Head-Mounted Displays (HMD), constitute a particular case of VR applications for which it is relatively easy to record content nowadays, and that can be explored as a game format. We therefore explore the idea of using live action 360° videos as the basis for immersive adventure games. In particular, we explore possible interactions in immersive adventure games based on 360° videos, in terms of game elements and mechanics, and the player's interface with those. To support this, we developed a browser-based framework for creating such games, and conducted a user study with a game created specifically for that purpose. The results obtained indicate a high level of satisfaction with the chosen control schemes and game mechanics, and suggest that the framework can be used to create this kind of experience.

Abstract
The use of virtual reality technologies for data visualization and analysis has been an emerging topic of research in the past years. However, one type of data has been left neglected, the point cloud. While some strides have been made in the visualization and analysis of point clouds in immersive environments, these have yet to be used for direct manipulation interactions. It is hypothesized that as with other types of data, bringing direct interactions and 3D visualization to point clouds may increase the ease of performing basic handling tasks. An immersive application for virtual reality HMDs was developed in Unity to help research this hypothesis. It is capable of parsing classified point cloud files with extracted objects and representing them in a virtual environment. Several editing tools were also developed, designed with the HMD controllers in mind. The end result allows the user to perform basic transformative tasks to the point cloud with an ease of use and intuitive feeling unmatched by the traditional desktop-based tools. © 2021 Owner/Author.