The Relationship Between Time and Distance Perception in Egocentric Target-Selection-Based Teleportation

Traveling distances in the real world inherently involves the passage of time, as reaching a desired location is a continuous process. This temporal component, for instance, influences how distances are perceived and estimated. However, in virtual environments, this relationship is often altered or entirely absent. This can make locomotion faster, as is the case with point-and-click teleportation, but depending on the application, it may diminish the user experience or negatively affect distance perception. Instantaneous movement is often chosen due to its lack of negative effects on cybersickness rather than its efficiency. In this research, we explore methods to incorporate temporal elements into different stages of point-and-click teleportation. We investigate how these adjustments influence participants' perception of distance. Our findings show a reduction in distance underestimation when using a time-delayed teleportation method, confirming that temporal factors can impact distance perception in virtual environments.