Animating Interaction in Immersive Spaces: Exploring Visual Feedback in Gamified VR Experiences

Project Objective

This project in it’s own nature is experimental and investigates animation of visual feedback within gamified or interactive VR environments. The work is grounded in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), especially within 3D immersive spaces where traditional screen-based feedback is replaced by spatial, multisensory experiences.

From Screen to Immersion: A Shift in Feedback Paradigms

In traditional gaming, feedback is predominantly audiovisual, limited to what can be shown on a 2D screen. In VR, the immersive spatial environment introduces new challenges and opportunities. Visual feedback becomes a primary tool for user orientation and understanding, especially when combined with haptic and audio inputs.

As we move away from screen-based interactions into head-mounted display (HMD) experiences, visual animation plays a central role in reinforcing the sensation of presence and in guiding user interaction. Haptic feedback can complement this, but visual cues remain the most immediate and informative component of interaction in VR.

The Role of Animation in Action-Based Feedback

Consider a typical game mechanic like shooting a gun in VR:

The user performs an action (e.g. firing a laser).
A visual response follows (e.g. a laser beam shoots forward and hits a target).
This entire process is animated, and the quality and believability of that animation impact the user’s understanding and experience.

Here, animation serves not just aesthetic purposes, but as a way to translate data into visual understanding—the laser beam visualises the trajectory and the distance within the space which helps user understand the space and gives them a sense of the space, which offers infinite FOV.

1. Personal Space

Distance: ~0.5 to 1.2 meters (1.5 to 4 feet)
Description: This is the space we reserve for close friends, family, or trusted interactions.
Use in VR: Personal space violations in VR can feel intense or invasive, making it powerful for emotional or narrative impact.

2. Intimate Space

Distance: 0 to 0.5 meters (0 to 1.5 feet)
Description: Reserved for very close interactions—hugging, whispering, or personal care.
Use in VR: Very rare outside of specific narrative or therapeutic experiences. It can evoke strong emotional responses, including discomfort.

3. Social Space

Distance: ~1.2 to 3.5 meters (4 to 12 feet)
Description: The typical space for casual or formal social interaction—conversations at a party, business meetings, or classroom settings.
Use in VR: Useful for multi-user or NPC (non-player character) interaction zones where you want users to feel present but not crowded.

4. Public Space

Use in VR: Great for audience design, environmental storytelling, or large-scale virtual spaces like plazas, arenas, or explorable worlds.

Distance: 3.5 meters and beyond (12+ feet)

Description: Space used for public speaking, performances, or observing others without direct engagement.

Visual Fidelity vs Animation Fidelity

Two critical concepts are being explored:

Visual Fidelity: How objects are represented in terms of texture, rendering quality, lighting, and detail. This relates to how convincing or realistic the environment feels.
Animation Fidelity: How smoothly and convincingly motion and interactions are animated. It includes timing, easing, weight, and physicality of motion.

Both forms of fidelity are essential for user immersion. High animation fidelity, in particular, supports believability—users need to feel that the action they performed caused a logical and proportional reaction in the environment.

Procedural Animation and Data-Driven Feedback

One key technique in this research is procedural animation—animations generated in real time based on code, physics, and user input, rather than being pre-authored (as in keyframe animation).

For example:

A bullet fired from a gun might follow a trajectory calculated based on angle, speed, and environmental factors.
The impact animation (e.g. an explosion) could scale in intensity depending on these values—larger impacts for faster bullets or steeper angles.
This helps communicate different degrees of impact through graduated visual responses.

Benefits of Procedural Feedback

Consistency with physical principles (e.g. gravity, momentum).
Dynamic responsiveness to different user actions.
Enhanced variation and realism, reducing repetitive feedback.

Designing Feedback for Understanding and Engagement

For visual feedback to be meaningful, variation matters. If every action results in the same animation (e.g., the same explosion no matter how intense the bullet), the user loses the ability to interpret the nuances of their actions.

Therefore, we must design condition-based feedback:

A weak hit might produce a small spark.
A high-speed, high-impact hit might create a large explosion with particle effects and shockwaves.

This approach informs users of the intensity and outcome of their actions, using animation to bridge interaction and consequence.

Justifying Design Choices

When working with keyframe animation, it’s essential to justify and rationalise aesthetic choices:

Why a certain texture?
Why a particular particle effect?
How do visual effects reflect the mechanics or emotional tone of the interaction?

These decisions must support the internal logic of the virtual environment and the user’s mental model of interaction within it.

Conclusion

This project explores how animation in immersive VR spaces can meaningfully represent user actions and their consequences. Through the lens of visual and animation fidelity, and by leveraging procedural techniques, we can create responsive, engaging, and informative feedback systems that enhance immersion, understanding, and enjoyment in gamified experiences.

Ultimately, thoughtful visual feedback design becomes a powerful language—bridging code, physics, and emotion—in the architecture of immersive digital spaces.