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title: VR patterns (immersive virtual reality design) applies_to: [vr, virtual-reality, immersive, quest, psvr] version: 1.0.0 last_updated: 2026-05 stability: stable

VR patterns

Fully immersive Virtual Reality (Quest, PSVR2, Valve Index, Vive). The user is replaced in a virtual environment.

Read spatial-design-fundamentals.md first.

VR experiences — categories

Category Examples UX focus
Games / immersive Beat Saber, Half-Life: Alyx, Asgard's Wrath Fun, presence, interaction
Productivity Immersed, Virtual Desktop, Horizon Workrooms Multi-monitor, focus
Social VRChat, Rec Room, Horizon Worlds Avatars, voice, presence
Training / simulation Medical, military, industrial training Realism, repeat-ability
Cinema / video Bigscreen, Apple TV in Vision Pro Reading distance, comfort
Fitness Supernatural, Beat Saber, FitXR Movement, calorie tracking

Three core VR design principles

1. Presence is everything

VR's killer feature is presence — feeling like you're really there. Design choices that break presence are the worst design failures:

  • UI floating awkwardly in space (vs anchored to logical thing).
  • Hands clipping through objects (no haptic / collision feedback).
  • Visible loading screens with no diegetic explanation.
  • Sudden teleports without grounding.
  • Floating numbers without context.

Design solutions diegetically (in-fiction): - Health on a wrist watch (not floating HUD). - Inventory in a backpack (not pop-up menu). - Weapon ammo on the gun (not text overlay).

2. Comfort over flash

Cool effects that make users sick are unshipable: - Avoid camera shakes (player's body doesn't shake). - Avoid forced motion (player must initiate). - Avoid black flashes / strobing. - Limit acceleration (constant velocity is more comfortable).

3. Use the body

Real interactions feel better than abstract: - Grab a door handle, turn it (vs press a button to open door). - Throw a ball physically (vs click). - Look around to spot enemies (vs minimap). - Reach over your shoulder for inventory (vs menu).

VR HUD anti-patterns

Traditional 2D HUD doesn't work in VR. What to do instead:

Bad (2D HUD) Good (VR-native)
Health bar in corner Glow on player's hands when low
Floating ammo count Magazine count visible on the gun
Mini-map overlay Compass on wrist; map in journal
Score top-right Score on a scoreboard in the world
Floating quest waypoint Compass needle, NPC pointing, in-world signs

Diegetic UI > head-locked UI > world-anchored UI.

Locomotion in detail

Teleport

User points at destination, presses button, instantly arrives.

Variants: - Arc teleport: arc trajectory shows where you'll land. - Straight teleport: simple ray. - Dash: short, immediate. - Blink: instantaneous fade-cut.

UI: - Visible target indicator at landing spot (circle, footprint). - Direction post-teleport: where will player be facing? (Some games let you snap to a direction during teleport.) - Cooldown / no-cost: most games have no cooldown.

Smooth (joystick) locomotion

Push joystick → move at walking speed.

Comfort options: - Speed setting — slower = more comfortable. - Comfort vignette — peripheral darkening during motion. - Snap turn for rotation (don't combine smooth-walk with smooth-turn for new users — too much).

Snap turn

Pressing left/right rotates view 30° / 45° / 90° instantly.

  • Avoids the disorientation of smooth turn.
  • Standard angles: 30°, 45°, 60°, 90°.
  • Default 30-45°.

Room-scale walking

User physically walks around in their playspace. Most comfortable; limited by physical room.

  • Guardian / chaperone boundary system warns when approaching real wall.
  • Re-center option for users in cramped spaces.

Hybrid locomotion

Most games offer multiple options; let player pick. Common combination: - Smooth walk + snap turn + comfort vignette.

Movement guardrails

Speed limits

Walking pace ~1.5 m/s feels natural. Faster than 3-4 m/s starts feeling sicky.

Running / vehicles can go faster but with: - Cockpit anchor (steering wheel grounds you). - Cinematic vignette during high speed. - Physical input (pumping arms, cycling motion) reduces sickness perceptually.

Acceleration

Constant velocity is more comfortable than acceleration. Vehicle / sled experiences feel sickier than steady walk.

For combat / chase: avoid sudden direction changes; use teleport for big jumps.

Spatial UI placement

Default panel position

                eye height
              ─────────────
              │             
              │  [panel ~1.2m wide]
              │   floats at 1.5m distance
              │   slightly below eye level (-10°)
              │             
              ─────────────
                    user

Within reach of natural arm extension if the panel needs touching.

Multi-panel productivity

For workspaces (Immersed, Vision Pro): - Multiple windows positioned around user. - User repositions via drag handles. - Snap to grid / columns helps organization. - Save layouts for repeat sessions.

Inventory access

Patterns: - Reach over shoulder (Half-Life: Alyx) — diegetic, immersive. - Wrist menu (palm up to reveal) — quick access. - Belt slots — items at hip. - Spawn-in front — modal overlay appears.

Hands and avatars

Hand representation

Style Use
Realistic hands Most immersive; uncanny valley risk
Stylized hands Cartoon, anime, robotic — safer
Floating gloves Half-Life: Alyx style — clean
Tools only (no hands visible) Sterile but works for some

Hand presence requires good tracking; mismatched real-vs-virtual hand position breaks immersion.

Self-avatar

Should the user see their own body? - Hands only — most VR (Quest, etc.). - Hands + arms — IK-driven from headset + controllers. - Full body — requires extra trackers (Vive trackers, Slime VR). - No body — tools / disembodied; for some experiences.

If full body: legs / movement match real walking via room-scale; otherwise, IK approximations risk uncanny.

Multiplayer / social VR

Avatars

  • Customizable — users build identity.
  • Realistic vs cartoon — picking lane.
  • Lip sync from voice input.
  • Eye contact if eye-tracking available.

Personal space

Korean cultural note: Korean users may have different comfort distances than Western. Default 1.5m personal space; allow adjustment.

In social VR: - Personal space bubble (auto-mute when too close). - Block / mute prominent. - Safe zone to escape harassment.

Voice + gestures

Communication: - Voice chat primary. - Hand gestures (waves, thumbs up). - Avatar emotes triggered by buttons. - Text chat as secondary (typing in VR is hard).

Reading text in VR

Sizing for legibility

Distance Min readable text size
0.5m 12mm character height
1m 24mm
1.5m 35mm
3m 70mm

Equivalent of "1° visual angle" rule.

Font choices

  • Sans-serif for legibility at low PPD.
  • Higher weight (medium-bold) renders cleaner.
  • High contrast (white on dark, dark on light).
  • Anti-aliased / sub-pixel rendering enabled.

For Korean: Pretendard, NanumSquare; bold weights for VR clarity.

Long-form reading

Reading a book in VR is uncomfortable for >15 min currently: - Text appears clear at distance but pixels show on close inspection. - Eye strain from fixed focal distance. - Better: cinema-style (large text far away) for novels.

Cinema / video in VR

For Bigscreen, Apple TV in Vision Pro: - Screen size 3-5m wide (perceived). - Distance 5-15m (perceived). - Curved screen wraps slightly. - Dimmable environment (movie theater black, beach, etc.). - Stereoscopic 3D for 3D content. - Pause / play via controller / pinch / voice.

Performance for VR

Hard requirement: 90Hz minimum, no dropped frames.

Tech Use
Foveated rendering Render high-detail at gaze point only
Single-pass stereo Render both eyes in one pass
Multi-view rendering Hardware-accelerated stereo
Asynchronous reprojection Re-warp frame to current head pose if late
Fixed foveated rendering Reduce edge resolution (fixed pattern)

For mobile VR (Quest standalone): aggressive optimization — limited GPU.

Common VR mistakes

  • Dropping frames — instant sickness.
  • Forced camera motion — sickness.
  • Tiny text — illegible at low PPD.
  • 2D HUD ports — breaks immersion.
  • No comfort options — alienates new users.
  • Ignoring guardian boundary — players hit walls.
  • No avatar self-representation — disorienting absence.
  • Long unskippable cutscenes in VR — players stuck.

Don't

  • Don't drop below 90 fps. Period.
  • Don't head-lock long content.
  • Don't move the camera without user input.
  • Don't put text smaller than 1° visual angle.
  • Don't use 2D HUD patterns. Diegetic > overlay.
  • Don't force smooth locomotion without comfort options.
  • Don't ignore guardian / chaperone — players walk into real walls.
  • Don't combine smooth turn + smooth walk + tiny FOV without comfort fallback.

Cross-reference