Everything changes when we enter a virtual world, including our actions, movements, and decision-making. It takes more than just pressing buttons or grabbing objects to interact in virtual reality. It involves converting human intent into digital action in a way that feels intuitive, responsive, and immersive.
So, how do users actually interact with VR environments? We can divide the types of VR interaction into three main categories, direct, indirect, and semi-direct interactions. Depending on user requirements, tasks, system capabilities, and design objectives, each type has benefits of its own.
- 1️⃣Direct Interaction: It happens when users naturally and intuitively manipulate virtual objects with their hands or controller on their own, such as grabbing an object, turning a doorknob, or drawing with a virtual brush. As mentioned in this book: The VR Book: Human-Centered Design for Virtual Reality by Jason Jerald “The most direct interaction occurs when the user directly interacts with a physical object in the hands.”
- 2️⃣Indirect Interaction: It requires more cognition and conversion between input and output, the user will engage with the 3D world through an intermediary or symbolic interface. For example, when pointing and clicking the floating button, using the menu and search box, and teleporting.
- 3️⃣Semi-Direct Interaction: The user is not entirely influencing the outcome fully in real time, but it still feels connected because the system interprets or amplifies the user's natural input. For example, when a user is changing the scale of an object with a floating slider.
Interaction Cycle
The interaction cycle is a cognitive and physical action that leads to every action users perform in a virtual environment. Users go through a process of setting a goal, taking action, and evaluating the result.
Let’s explore how this cycle unfolds in immersive environments.
👉 The interaction cycle in the bridge of execution involves
- Forming the goal
At the start, the user will decide what they want to achieve in the virtual world. The goals themselves might be as basic as choosing an object or as complex as navigating through a virtual world.
- Planning the action
And then the user decides how to achieve it based on the available interaction method. This step involves current experience and knowledge with VR systems or using real-world cues to plan the next step.
- Specifying the action sequence
The user adjusts the planned step with the exact sequence of available actions that are needed to accomplish the goals precisely, which helps them refine their plan. This step depends on the system’s affordances and signifiers that guide users.
- Performing the action sequence
The user executes their adjusted step, and the system recognizes, processes, and interprets it.
✅ The interaction cycle in the bridge of evaluation involves
- Perceiving
The system provides any designed feedback indicating every visual and auditory change in the virtual world, and the user will perceive these changes.
- Interpreting
The user analyzes the feedback that is produced by the system.
- Comparing
And then compare it with their action, whether it had the desired outcome or not. If the feedback is in line with the expectations, they proceed to the next interaction. If it's not, they will reevaluate the situation.
By mastering interaction types, principles, and cycles, and context itself, we empower users to move through virtual worlds with purpose and ease.
References:
- Don Norman’s, The Design of Everyday Things. Revised and expanded
- Types of interaction by Jason Jerald. The VR Book: Human-Centered Design for Virtual Reality