Personal computers and handheld devices provide keyboard shortcuts and swipe gestures to enable users to efficiently switch between applications, whereas today's virtual reality (VR) systems do not. In this work, we present an exploratory study on user interface aspects to support efficient switching between worlds in VR. We created eight interfaces that afford previewing and selecting from the available virtual worlds, including methods using portals and worlds-in-miniature (WiMs). To evaluate these methods, we conducted a controlled within-subjects empirical experiment (N=22) where participants frequently transitioned between six different environments to complete an object collection task. Our quantitative and qualitative results show that WiMs supported rapid acquisition of high-level spatial information while searching and were deemed most efficient by participants while portals provided fast pre-orientation. Finally, we present insights into the applicability, usability, and effectiveness of the VR world switching methods we explored, and provide recommendations for their application and future context/world switching techniques and interfaces.

翻译：个人计算机与手持设备通过键盘快捷键与滑动手势使用户能在不同应用间高效切换，而当今的虚拟现实（VR）系统尚不具备此功能。本研究针对支持VR中不同虚拟世界间高效切换的用户界面要素展开探索性研究。我们设计了八种支持预览与选择可用虚拟世界的界面方案，包括采用传送门与微型世界（WiMs）等方法。为评估这些方法，我们开展了受控的组内实证实验（N=22），要求参与者频繁在六个不同环境间切换以完成物体收集任务。定量与定性结果表明：WiMs在搜索过程中支持对高层空间信息的快速获取，被参与者评为最高效方案；而传送门则能实现快速的预定向。最后，我们针对所探索的VR世界切换方法的适用性、可用性与有效性提出见解，并就其实际应用及未来情境/世界切换技术与界面设计提供建议。