What is this thesis about?

Can an ordinary 2D screen feel like a window into a VR-like world?

This thesis explores whether simple, accessible techniques — head-coupled perspective (off-axis projection), first-person camera movement, and visible first-person hands- can create a genuine sense of immersion on a normal monitor, without any VR headset.

You will build a small house interior in Unity, drive the camera's projection from webcam-based head tracking (MediaPipe face mesh), and render visible first-person hands from MediaPipe hand landmarks sent over UDP to Unity. Then you will run a user study comparing conditions: head-coupled vs. fixed camera, hands visible vs. hidden, and measure spatial presence, embodiment, sense of depth, and comfort.

Why does it matter?

VR is immersive but expensive. It needs headsets, controllers, and tracking hardware. This research asks whether screen-only techniques can deliver a meaningful slice of that immersion using nothing more than a webcam and a monitor.

If it works, the approach could be useful for games, interactive media, education, simulation, and low-cost VR alternatives,  anywhere a headset is unavailable or impractical.

What will you actually do?

Build a first-person Unity environment with WASD navigation

Implement webcam-based head tracking (MediaPipe face mesh → UDP → Unity)

Implement off-axis projection so the screen behaves like a window into the scene

Implement visible first-person hands (MediaPipe hand landmarks → UDP → Unity)

Design and run a user study with real participants

Analyze results using basic statistics (ANOVA, t-tests, effect sizes)

Write up the findings as a thesis

What will you learn?

Unity and interactive environment development

Off-axis projection and head-coupled perspective math

MediaPipe-based head and hand tracking

UDP communication between Python and Unity

First-person camera control and FOV design

HCI and user study design

Basic statistical analysis

Research and technical writing

Research Question

Does adding visible first-person hands to a head-coupled, first-person navigation experience on a 2D screen improve spatial presence or embodiment, and does it interact with the motion parallax cue?

Background Reading

Core:

Ware, Arthur & Booth (1993). Fish Tank Virtual Reality. CHI '93.

Thanyadit & Pong (2017). Visible Hands in Fish Tank VR.

Arsenault & Ware (2004). Eye-Hand Coordination in Fish Tank VR.

Supporting:

Jicol et al. (2023). Realism and Field of View Affect Presence in VR but Not the Way You Think. CHI 2023.

Thorp et al. (2024). Comparative Analysis of Spatial Ability in Immersive and Non-Immersive Virtual Reality. Frontiers in Virtual Reality.

Effect of Expansive Optic Flow and Lateral Motion Parallax on Depth Estimation (2023).

Technical:

Unity documentation: Camera.projectionMatrix, PerspectiveOffCenter

MediaPipe face mesh and hand landmark documentation

de Brisis, M. Off-axis projection in Unity. Medium.

Relevant Courses

Computer Graphics

Human–Computer Interaction

Game Development

Programming

Statistics / Probability

What you'll have by the end

A first-person Unity environment with head-coupled perspective and visible hands

A working webcam-based head and hand tracking pipeline (MediaPipe → UDP → Unity)

Hands-on experience with off-axis projection, parallax, and FOV design

A completed user study on presence, embodiment, and comfort

Statistical analysis of your results

A full thesis documenting the process from development to experimentation

Future Research / Scope

Apply the approach to larger and more complex environments

Improve hand tracking fidelity (full skeletal animation, finger-level interaction)

Test with different user populations (gamers vs. non-gamers, VR-experienced vs. not)

Explore additional depth cues (stereo, shading, atmospheric perspective)

Extend to games and interactive applications

Explore VR/AR-based implementations of the same pipeline

Publish the research findings

Interested?

If you want to build something at the intersection of graphics, HCI, and game development — and run a real user study on immersion — this thesis is for you. No prior VR hardware experience required. Just curiosity, some Unity familiarity, and willingness to learn.