Markus Leyrer

With the recent progress in virtual reality technology and the increase in computational power, virtual reality is now a very useful tool for a large variety of applications in very diverse domains. The possibility to easily provide users with sophisticated immersive virtual environments delivered via large screen displays or head-mounted displays has turned virtual reality into a Swiss army knife for applications ranging from training, prototyping, design, medical rehabilitation and entertainment to research in human perception, scientific visualization and more. However, to be effective, many of these applications require that the displayed virtual environments are visually perceived as a replica of the real world. Thus, an important question is how do we perceive space in virtual environments and what factors contribute to space perception, specifically in virtual environments.

In my research I am mainly interested in distance (and space) perception in virtual environments and focus on specific factors which can influence our perception of space. Such factors are for example eye height, visual cues, posture in relation to gravity and others. A better understanding of these factors may allow us to better understand space perception in general and to use this knowledge to change perceived space in virtual environments.

Especially, changing the perceived space can become very important: Consider flying in an air plane where physical space is usally very restricted (at least in the economy class). With this research it might be possible to provide passengers with the virtual illusion of more space, which ultimately can lead to more comfort. This comfort/change of perception research is  conducted in the context of the EU-Project VR-Hyperspace (), which is is a 7th Framework Programme funded under the Aeronautics and Air Transport (AAT) workprogramme.