Back to articles
Articles
Volume: 30 | Article ID: art00007
Image
Continuous-Motion Text Input in Virtual Reality
  DOI :  10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2018.03.ERVR-450  Published OnlineJanuary 2018
Abstract

Text input in virtual reality is a problem that does not currently have a widely accepted standard method. As VR headsets have become more commonplace, text input has also become more important. Using a physical keyboard is not possible with a head-mounted display that blocks the users visual field. The two most popular solutions for text input in VR today are a virtual keyboard interfacing with VR controllers and voice recognition. However, they either require a handheld controller or a quiet environment. 3D-tracked controllers with a virtual keyboard can simulate a real keyboard to an extent, but they suffer from a lack of tactile feedback that makes typing slow and unintuitive. A more intuitive solution is a Swype or SwiftKey-like algorithm, where the path the users finger travels is used as input, as opposed to individually pressing each key. We implemented a prototype for the Oculus Rift with a Leap Motion controller on it that combines a novel continuous-motion text input method with hand gestures to demonstrate an all-purpose, intuitive method of text input. We compare it to state-of-the-art VR keyboard input with a virtual keyboard, as well as a head-directed input method.

Subject Areas :
Views 50
Downloads 19
 articleview.views 50
 articleview.downloads 19
  Cite this article 

Janis G. Jimenez, Jürgen P. Schulze, "Continuous-Motion Text Input in Virtual Realityin Proc. IS&T Int’l. Symp. on Electronic Imaging: The Engineering Reality of Virtual Reality,  2018,  pp 450-1 - 450-6,  https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2018.03.ERVR-450

 Copy citation
  Copyright statement 
Copyright © Society for Imaging Science and Technology 2018
72010604
Electronic Imaging
2470-1173
Society for Imaging Science and Technology