Does It Feel Real? Using Tangibles with Different Fidelities to Build and Explore Scenes in Virtual Reality

Professionals in domains like film, theater, or architecture often rely on physical models to visualize spaces. With virtual reality (VR) new tools are available providing immersive experiences with correct perceptions of depth and scale. However, these lack the tangibility of physical models. Using tangible objects in VR can close this gap but creates the challenges of producing suitable objects and interacting with them with only the virtual objects visible. This work addresses these challenges by evaluating tangibles with three haptic fidelities: equal disc-shaped tangibles for all virtual objects, Lego-built tangibles, and 3D-printed tangibles resembling the virtual shapes. We present results from a comparative study on immersion, performance, and intuitive interaction and interviews with domain experts. The results show that 3D-printed objects perform best, but Lego offers a good trade-off between fast creation of tangibles and sufficient fidelity. The experts rate our approach as useful and would use all three versions.