I defended my PhD on December 3rd. You can download the manuscript at the following link or you can rewatch the defense thanks to the following youtube link below:

Thesis abstract:

Navigation is a fundamental interaction in Virtual Reality (VR) that enables users to update their viewpoint in order to explore the Virtual Environment (VE). Alternative locomotion techniques to natural walking have been explored to enable users to navigate infinitely regardless of the size of the physical workspace. However, the use of such techniques can influence users’ experience as the locomotion interface can modify the way users perceive and perform movements. This manuscript aims at highlighting factors related to the locomotion technique that could influence users’ perception and action during a navigation task in VR. To achieve this, we focused on two axes: (1) the influence of the locomotion techniques on users’ movements, where we investigated how either the way to update heading or speed in the VE could modify users’ movements and coordination. (2) How to alter the perception of rotation gains in VEs where we assessed on one hand, whether modification of the Field of View and on the other hand, translational and rotational speed, could alter the perception of rotation gains in VEs. Altogether, these results contribute to the understanding of users’ behavior while navigating in VEs and are discussed to improve the design of locomotion techniques in VR.

Jury members:

Jean-Rémy Chardonnet – Associate Professor, Institut Arts et Métiers de Chalon-sur-Saône (reviewer)
Frank Steinicke – Professor – TU Hamburg (reviewer)
Joaquim Jorge – Professor, Técnico Lisboa (examiner)
Anouk Lamontagne – Adjunct Professor, McGill University (examiner)
Guillaume Moreau – Professor, IMT Atlantique Brest (examiner)
Gerd Bruder – Associate Professor, University of Central Florida (invited)
Ferran Argelaguet – Research fellow, Inria Rennes (thesis director)
Maud Marchal – Professor, INSA de Rennes (thesis co-director)
Anne-Hélène Olivier – Associate Professor, Université Rennes 2 (thesis supervisor)