Lost in IKUM

A virtual reality redirected walking prototype in an escape-room game scenario

“Lost in IKUM” is a virtual-reality escape-room game. It serves as a prototype for redirected walking, a technique used to increase the perceived playable area in VR by manipulating the rotation speed of a user, leading to a rotation gain. This effect is not disruptive or even noticeable when introduced with the right amount of gain and a suitable gameplay scenario. When combined with another method called impossible spaces, where rooms in-game intersect with each other, a considerably larger space is perceived than physically available in reality. In our prototype, these tricks are leveraged to increase the effective playable area by almost a factor of three.

Developed for Oculus Quest, the game can be played anywhere.

The game was developed in a hackathon-style practical course in student teams. We have submitted our game to the department’s EXPO 2020, where it made the third place. You can find the submission here with a more detailed description of the project in German, as well as a trailer and walkthrough video.

You can download the source code of the game on GitHub. The game was developed for Oculus Quest 1.