Tool-based Interaction for Precise Manipulation in VR: an Exploratory Study

Virtual Reality-based interactions are getting more mainstream in several domains, such as gaming, education, and training. While there is extensive literature on newinteraction techniques, applying and recombining these for specific tool-based interactions remains challenging. We specifically look at promising VR manipulation techniques using controllers. We implemented these techniques in a proof-of-concept toolchain aimed at spray painters. We extracted and manipulated the relevant parts for a controlled within-subject comparative experiment with 16 participants. We find, among other things, that, as in direct manipulation, tool-based interaction with controllers in VR can benefit from zoom and separation of degrees of freedom to achieve effective and efficient manipulation.