Perceptually-Guided Adjusted Teleporting: Perceptual Thresholds for Teleport Displacements in Virtual Environments

2026-01-14

AI Summary

This study investigates the perceptual limits of undetectable positional adjustments during teleportation in virtual reality, addressing a critical gap in understanding the perceptual mechanisms underlying teleportation-based locomotion. Through a psychophysical experiment employing a within-subjects design, staircase procedure, and two-alternative forced-choice task, the research systematically measures users’ detection thresholds for subtle displacements of teleport targets, examining the effects of direction (forward vs. backward) and distance (near vs. far). Results reveal significantly higher tolerance for backward and longer-distance teleports. The study establishes the first perceptual threshold model for teleportation-based redirection, extending redirected walking techniques to teleportation paradigms and offering a novel adaptive design framework for applications in social VR, game guidance, and novice navigation.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Game Design — Virtual Humans, NPCs and Autonomous Characters
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction
• Intelligent Robots: Manipulation

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements

Abstract

Teleportation is one of the most common locomotion techniques in virtual reality, yet its perceptual properties remain underexplored. While redirected walking research has shown that users'movements can be subtly manipulated without detection, similar imperceptible adjustments for teleportation have not been systematically investigated. This study examines the thresholds at which teleportation displacements become noticeable to users. We conducted a repeated-measures experiment in which participants'selected teleport destinations were altered in both direction (forwards, backwards) and at different ranges (small, large). Detection thresholds for these positional adjustments were estimated using a psychophysical staircase method with a two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) task. Results show that teleport destinations can be shifted without detection, with larger tolerances for backward adjustments and across longer teleport ranges. These findings establish baseline perceptual limits for redirected teleportation and highlight its potential as a design technique. Applications include supporting interpersonal distance management in social VR, guiding players toward objectives in games, and assisting novice users with navigation. By identifying the limits of imperceptible teleportation adjustments, this work extends redirection principles beyond walking to teleportation and opens new opportunities for adaptive and socially aware VR locomotion systems.

Problem

• teleportation
• perceptual thresholds
• virtual reality
• locomotion
• displacement detection

Innovation

• teleportation
• perceptual thresholds
• redirected locomotion
• virtual reality
• psychophysics