Isometric and Elastic Balance Boards for Virtual Reality Locomotion

Locomotion in virtual reality (VR) significantly impacts user immersion, spatial orientation, and overall experience. While traditional methods such as joystick-based movement and teleportation remain common, they present challenges like spatial disorientation, reduced presence, and motion sickness. In contrast, more embodied techniques, such as walking-in-place (WIP) and balance boards, aim to provide a more naturalistic form of locomotion. However, balance boards have proven to enhance the sense of control and presence in VR environments. Thus, we decided to further explore the benefits of isometric and elastic balance boards by examining their effects on VR locomotion movement behaviors, user experience, and motion sickness symptoms during a path-following task. We followed a 2 (feedback: isometric vs. elastic) $\times 3$ (orientation: virtual vs. physical vs. conditional virtual) within-group experimental design involving 28 participants. The collected data included movement metrics (i.e., trajectory length, speed, time, root mean square error, sway velocity), user experience metrics (i.e., usability, spatial presence, task load, intrinsic motivation), and motion sickness metrics. Our results indicated that orientation significantly affected trajectory length, speed, and sway velocity, while feedback strongly influenced movement accuracy. Additionally, the user experience was influenced by the combination of feedback and orientation, with participants favoring elastic feedback, particularly when paired with virtual orientation. Finally, we found motion sickness to be less pronounced with elastic feedback, especially in virtual and conditional virtual orientations, highlighting the importance of feedback in reducing discomfort during VR locomotion.