research · 2025
Designing Hand and Forearm Gestures to Control a Virtual Forearm for User-Initiated Deformation
IEEE ISMAR (TVCG) (acceptance 7.86%)
We design hand and forearm gestures to control user-initiated deformation of a virtual forearm in VR. A design workshop with six designers produced 15 gesture sets, and a comparative study evaluated embodiment across the highest-rated sets.
Problem — VR avatars deform passively, not on command
As VR avatar body-deformation effects have grown, most work has focused on passive deformation, leaving users with few ways to actively control how their virtual body changes.
Approach — mapping gestures to forearm deformation
We explored user-controlled forearm deformation by studying how hand and forearm gestures can map to different deformation types and degrees. A gesture-design workshop with six designers produced 15 gesture sets; we took the three highest-rated and ran a comparative study evaluating the sense of embodiment and user performance. The work offers design suggestions for gesture-controlled forearm deformation in VR.