Assessing hands-free interactions for VR using eye gaze and electromyography

With the increasing popularity of virtual reality (VR) technologies, more efforts have been going into developing new input methods. While physical controllers are widely used, more novel techniques, such as eye tracking, are now commercially available. In our work, we investigate the use of physiological signals as input to enhance VR experiences. We present a system using gaze tracking and electromyography on a user’s forearm to make selection tasks in virtual spaces more efficient. In a study with 16 participants, we compared five different input techniques using a Fitts’ law task: Using gaze tracking for cursor movement in combination with forearm contractions for making selections was superior to using an HTC Vive controller, Xbox gamepad, dwelling time, and eye-gaze dwelling time. To explore application scenarios and collect qualitative feedback, we further developed and evaluated a game with our input technique. Our findings inform the design of applications that use eye-gaze tracking and forearm muscle movements for effective user input in VR.