Effects of Bounding Tree Complexity on Immersion in a Virtual Environment

Bounding boxes are volumetric spaces in a 3D environment defined by a set of points that denote the area of collision for a given object. Bounding trees are known as a collection of bounding boxes. Simple bounding trees contain few bounding boxes and complex bounding trees contain many. Our research aims to find the relationship between the complexity of a bounding tree and a user's immersion in a 3D virtual environment. We created an algorithm that used the bounding trees to check for when an object collides with another. Using this algorithm, we ran a user study where users would be set in a 3D environment and experience the effects of the bounding tree of an object. In the end, we found that there is a possible relationship between the two, in the form of an N-shaped curve. This curve shows that as bounding trees get become more complex, user immersion rises to a point, then falls, then rises once again. In addition, we found that there were suggested significant differences in user immersion between less complex bounding trees and more complex ones.