Rotation Methods for 360-Degree Videos in Virtual Reality – A Comparative Study

When using virtual reality head-mounted displays to watch 360-degree videos, users often remain stationary, requiring extreme head rotations to explore scenes behind them. This can be cumbersome, potentially harmful, and lead to neck strain. To address this, we evaluate three interaction methods commonly used in virtual reality as alternatives to head rotation for navigating 360-degree videos. The methods include a graphical user interface (buttons), a hardware-based approach (thumbstick), and a gesture-based approach (video dragging). In a comparative study with 25 participants, we examined these approaches in scenarios requiring full exploration of 360-degree content. Results show that the hardware-based thumbstick method is preferred, while the gesture-based approach also holds potential. In contrast, the graphical interface was the least effective and rejected by all participants. We propose initial guidelines and suggest future research directions, particularly focusing on cybersickness mitigation.