Volumetric Interaction: a new approach to expanding embodied experience in XR

This paper presents a prototype for a new form of interaction termed 'volumetric interaction' (VI), developed by the authors, along with a specialist development team of programmers, 3D artists and dancers, in the Embodied Movement Design Studio within the Centre for Transformative Media Technologies in Melbourne, Australia. Current XR interaction is based on tracking users' motion as a series of coordinates in space, which are mapped to virtual space to enable interaction within a virtual environment. VI proposes a new logic based on contemporary dance movement concepts that understand body movement as a series of shifting volumes rather than as a series of joint actions in space. This paper describes the creation and workshop testing of the first VI prototypes and reflects on the potential of VI to provide a new capacity to tailor interaction systems to differently abled people for whom gesture-based systems may not be suitable.