E-bike Simulator - a virtual reality application that evaluates user interfaces in an urban traffic environment

Abstract: When developing a User Interface (UI), testing the design in a designated area of use is of the utmost importance. However, Testing a UI for a bike in a traffic environment can be both difficult and risky. This thesis aims to solve this problem by developing a VR application in which UIs can be compared and evaluated in a controlled environment. This was completed by following the principals of a user centered design, resulting in a VR simulator of a bike ride in a city environment. Users could hop on a stationed bike while using both controllers to steer and accelerate to ride around in the city. Motion sickness was reported to be an issue that needed solving. It proved to be an obstacle that hindered some users even after proposed solutions were applied.