Telepresence technologies enable users to exhibit a presence in a remote location, through the use of sensors, networks and robotics. State of the art telepresence research swaps conventional desktop monitors for Virtual Reality (VR) headsets, in order to increase the user's immersion in the remote environment, often at the cost of increased nausea and oculomotor discomfort.
This project aimed to improve the comfort of VR telepresence by accounting for discrepancies between robot and user head pose through design and development of a ``Decoupled'' image projection technique, whereby the user is able to look across captured imagery rendered to a virtual display plane.
Evaluated against conventional techniques through a study on 19 participants, Decoupled image projection substantially reduced mean perceived nausea and oculomotor discomfort within a 95% statistical confidence interval, while also improving task performance, immersiveness, and the perceived sensation of presence.