For my project, I was unsure what the best method of navigation would be for a fully immersive application for a large target audience. Because of this, I have to think carefully with regards to moving around the virtual world for older people especially, as they would have the least amount of knowledge of VR, with middle aged people following behind. Designing for teenagers would be the easiest option, but because my target audience covers the majority of age groups including elderly people, this is not the case. I have to be mindful of the accessories the VR headset possesses. As a result, I conducted some research to see what motion methods are available to me and to find what people think the easiest and most effective way to navigate a VR world is.

Using Locomotion

The virtual reality locomotion is the technology that enables movement of the avatar or user (in this case you in first person) through the entire virtual world, using only a small real-world space. Locomotion is one of the pillars of a great VR experience.

In 2019, University of California user study "A User Experience Study of Locomotion Design in Virtual Reality Between Adult and Minor Users"- the researchers found that physical body movement that mirrors real-world movement exclusively is the least preferred by participants; both adults and minors.

According to Oculus for Developers guidelines recommendations you should take into account several elements when developing and designing experience using artificial locomotion:

• Acceleration - fast, unexpected movements lead to discomfort or even nausea. Special attention should be applied to torso and head movement.
• Speed - to be in the human perception golden range, Oculus recommends speeds of human locomotion: between 1.4 m/s and 3 m/s.
• Direction and Positional Tracking - with motion controller setup, the user sets the range of space (guardian mode). Designers/developers must understand that backward movement and lateral movements are rare.
• User Control — Let users control the motion as much as possible/ This is extremely important when it comes to gameplay and enjoyment.
• Visual Quality — the quality of the visual is crucial as well. There's a thin line between the quality and performance. Rapid movements such as head bobbing may break the immersive experience

Room-Scale Based

This approach utilizes only the player's physical movement on the real-world space, and so, the applications must be designed around this constraint. Games such as Beat Saber is a good example of this, where your only movements are for dancing and dodging walls.