Nov 6, 2020
Terms & Understanding
Degrees of Freedom: The different ways that an object can move in a space. Responds to movements in the X, Y, and Z axes to simulate moving left, right, up, or down.
Position vs. Orientation: Position is where you are geographically in a space, whereas orientation is the direction you are facing within that space.
Pitch: How a user rotates their head up and down. If the user looked down, they could see their feet and legs, and if they looked up they could see birds flying in the sky. Can not look left or right.
Yaw: How a user rotates their body while standing up. If the user were standing in the middle of a city street with their head in place, they could rotate and see the ground from their peripheral, and see four “walls” while rotating.
Roll: How a user rotates their body while rolling on the ground. The user can rotate their head and view three walls, a ceiling, and the floor. Unable to view the wall behind them.
Swaying: How a user moves left or right. User’s head is locked in position, but can see more or less of a scene by moving side-to-side.
Heaving: How a user moves up or down. User’s head is locked in position, but can see more or less of a scene by jumping or crouching.
Impact of Degrees of Freedom: More degrees of freedom allows for a more immersive experience where the user feels like they are actually in the scene and can navigate it as opposed to viewing it from a fixed position.
Relative and Absolute Degrees of Freedom: Relative freedom allows the user to move within a scene with relative freedom. This allows the user to move around in a designated space to explore and experience it. Absolute freedom means that the user is fixed to an absolute point. This means the user can look around the scene but cannot move around or get closer to any part of the scene. Essentially they are fixed in place.
6 Degrees of Freedom: Track both position and rotation, allowing the user to walk around and experience things in different areas. The movement of a phone detects what a user is viewing, allowing it to have six degrees of freedom.
