Improving Inclusion of Virtual Reality Through Enhancing Interactions in Low-Fidelity VR

Virtual reality (VR) is positioned to become a technology for everyday use; we are beginning to see a shift in VR from primarily being for entertainment to supporting office work, socializing, and everyday tasks. Despite falling prices of modern VR devices, their cost remains high, presenting a barrier to VR access for a large portion of the population. This barrier primarily prevents people of lower socio-economic status from accessing a technology and participating in what may soon be a predominant computing paradigm. Low-fi VR, a low-cost alternative, has potential to democratize VR, increase its inclusivity, and diversify research participants in this space. However, its limited interaction capabilities and input options prevents low-fi VR from supporting most productive VR applications or offering effective VR experiences. This position paper explores the current state of low-fi VR hardware and interactions, identifying current problems and potential solutions, and discusses the benefits low-fi VR can provide if advancements are made.