Manipulating a non-humanoid body using a mapping approach that translates human body activity into different structural movements enables users to perform tasks that are difficult with their innate bodies. However, a key challenge is how to design an effective mapping to control non-analogous body parts with the human body. To address this challenge, we designed an articulated virtual arm and investigated the effect of mapping methods on a user’s manipulation experience. Specifically, we developed an unbranched 12-joint virtual arm with an octopus-like appearance. Using this arm, we conducted a user study to compare the effects of several mapping methods with different arrangements on task performance and subjective evaluations of embodiment and user preference. As a result, we identified three important factors in mapping: “Visual and Configurational Similarity”, “Kinematics Suitability for the User”, and “Correspondence with Everyday Actions.” Based on these findings, we discuss a mapping design for non-humanoid body manipulation.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/full/10.1145/3613904.3642340
Shuto Takashita, Ken Arai, Hiroto Saito, Michiteru Kitazaki, and Masahiko Inami. 2024. Embodied Tentacle: Mapping Design to Control of Non-Analogous Body Parts with the Human Body. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 222, 1–19.
