What is Six Degrees of Freedom?

One thing seemingly holding virtual reality adoption back is how users have limited freedom of movement. This is why six degrees of freedom is such an important aspect of the VR ecosystem as of right now. With six degrees of freedom, objects and players can move around in a three-dimensional space.

Six Degrees of Freedom Will Boost VR Adoption

It is evident the first generation of VR hardware needs some work and improvements. Not only are the prices quite high, but the players feel limited in how they can move around in VR. Especially the cables associated with a VR headset can cause quite a bit of a problem. The tethered connection limits freedom of movement, which is not entirely surprising. Thankfully, it may only be a matter of time until this improves.

The concept of six degrees of freedom – or 6DoF – revolves around how rigid bodies can move around in a 3D environment. This affects moving back and forth, as well as up and down or right and left. Limiting any of these movement angles will cause a severe disconnect between the user and their virtual environment.

Allowing users to enjoy six degrees of freedom is not all that easy, though. In most cases, the player needs one or multiple cameras to properly track the player’s position. Through six degrees of freedom, VR users can immerse themselves completely, which will be quite beneficial to virtual reality enthusiasts all over the world Facebook, for example, is working on a new camera model to provide 6DoF in the future.

Rotational movements are an important part of any virtual reality environment. Especially when working with more advanced rotational movements, such as pitching and rolling. Most HMDs can effectively track these movements properly by letting users tilt or turn their heads. However, there is still a bit of a problem with properly tracking those movements to effectively create six degrees of freedom.

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