4D Exploring System for Intuitive Understanding of 4D Space by Extending Familiar 3D Interfaces

Abstract

With the advancement of VR technology and the increasing demand for high-dimensional data, a variety of intuitive visualization and interaction methods for high-dimensional data have been proposed. In this paper, we propose a new 4D space interaction system aimed at not only being more intuitive but also making it easier for non-experts to understand 4D space. The proposed system functions as a familiar system for exploring 3D space, and when exploring the 4D space, a user is able to directly leverage the operations used for navigating the 3D space. This feature is achieved through a combination of displaying crosssections of 4D space by slicing through 3D screens and intuitive operation using motion controllers. By moving back and forth between exploring the 4D space and the 3D cross-sections, a user can observe and experience the relationships, aiding in the understanding of 4D space. From the maze exploration experiments, not only were promising results obtained, but interesting insights were also garnered regarding the field of high-dimensional space perception, an area with many unresolved aspects.