Experiencing an Invisible World War I Battlefield Through Narrative-Driven Redirected Walking in Virtual Reality

Redirected walking techniques have the potential to provide natural locomotion while users experience large virtual environments. However, when using redirected walking in small physical workspaces, disruptive overt resets are often required. We describe the design of an educational virtual reality experience in which users physically walk through virtual tunnels representative of the World War I battle of Vauquois. Walking in only a 15- by 5-foot tracked space, users are redirected through subtle, narrative-driven resets to walk through a tunnel nearly 50 feet in length. This work contributes approaches and lessons that can be used to provide a seamless and natural virtual reality walking experience in highly constrained physical spaces.