Controlling Sense of Distance by Focal Length in VR Space

Abstract

In recent years, due to the metaverse boom, communication in VR space is commonly performed in various situations. Moreover, it has also been reported that personal space plays an important role in this VR space as well. The size of this personal space differs for each person depending on various factors such as gender, personality, and so on. In other words, even if one person feels that the communication distance with the other person is “favorable”, the other person often feels that this communication distance is “not favorable”. Based on this fact, we have proposed a communication environment in VR space that satisfies the personal space of both people without changing the physical distance between them. In particular, we developed a screen display method that changes the user's distance perception from the other person by controlling the focal length of the camera in VR space. In this research, we investigate the influences of the proposed method on information transmission in VR space. As a result of the experiment, in case the user's personal space is large, it is desirable to adjust the camera’s focal length to a shorter value (apparent distance becomes longer). On the other hand, in case the user's personal space is small, it is desirable to adjust the camera's focal length to a longer value (apparent distance becomes shorter).