VR: Zero Input Diegetic Interface
Disclaimer
I have a PHD in nothing, at the unUniversity of WAUTA (What.Are.You.Talking.About). I’m currently equipped with the HTC Vive 5 (a bit better than the 3, and a much better than the 4, go figure), and have a career of 300 years in VR. And I come from the future.
If you got the ability to discern humour, I hope you understood what I meant.
TL;DR: I know nothing about VR, and I just own a Google Carboard (and a nexus 5x). I’m just thinking loudly here. And asking question. Consider this writing as purely theorical.
First
I try to resist the urge to possess anything (I perceive) remotely better than the google cardboard. Yet, with (at least) one hand holding the cardboard, I was wondering about how could I interact with a VR world ?
Zero Input
I said one hand, but I could as well say two hand. So no way to click a physical button in my hand. The irony of being in a VR world but not being able to do anything except just look. Which is, of all, already incredible.
With no input whatsoever, how can I interact with the world ?
Contextual Interface
What about a diegetic interface ? A representation of possibles interactions in a VR world: Look a door knob, and a tooltip appear, asking you if you want to open the door (or not), look for “yes” for a “brief” amout of time, and the door open. Idem with a NPC. The main limitation I think of is (was ?) the first/most common problem of VR world/games: navigation. Maybe navigation should be revised as to move in places relatives to other objects (I see a chair, with a contextual option to move near it.
A measured approach should then be needed, to avoid contextual tooltip hell, where any glance anywhere would trigger the rise of abundand forest of bubbles asking you anything and everything.
Diegetic Interface
Perhaps you won’t be alone in a game made like this. What of your very personal butler, whose personal role is to be your main interface: Want to see your inventory ? Your game options, anything ? As for the novelty of “my character look at interesting object so I know where to search”, maybe this role will be his/her. So your butler look at a piece of paper, ask him/her to have a look. It should boost development in AI, if anything.
This seems well adapted to the point & clic kind of games. Damn, Sherlock Holmes VR ! Or the next Ace Attorney ! :D
Maybe being in a VR world means that immersion should be distinct from open world.
Finally, I want to try these options, as I find it adapted to low-end VR solution (cardboard VR)