Enhancing the VR climbing game experience through leg movement input

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) games allow users to safely experience activities that involve physical danger in the real world by recreating them in a virtual environment. This study focuses on "climbing" as an activity that has not yet been safely or sufficiently reproduced in VR. While existing VR climbing games allow players to ascend walls by gripping virtual surfaces with handheld controllers, these titles focus primarily on hand operations and do not account for essential leg movements. This research proposes an interaction method that integrates leg movements into the current standard of handonly controls. Furthermore, we address the restricted physical mobility inherent in a seated position—which is safer than standing—by applying leg movement redirection. We developed a VR climbing system that enables interactions more similar to actual climbing to enhance the user experience. Through evaluation experiments, we demonstrated that the proposed method increases the sense of climbing and improves overall enjoyment compared to conventional methods.