The experience in virtual reality (VR) is unique, in that observers are in a real-world location while browsing through a virtual scene. Previous studies have investigated the effect of the virtual environment on distance estimation. However, it is unclear how the real-world environment influences distance estimation in VR. Here, we measured the distance estimation using a bisection (Experiment 1) and a blind-walking (Experiments 2 and 3) method. Participants performed distance judgments in VR, which rendered either virtual indoor or outdoor scenes. Experiments were also carried out in either real-world indoor or outdoor locations. In the bisection experiment, judged distance in virtual outdoor was greater than that in virtual indoor. However, the real-world environment had no impact on distance judgment estimated by bisection. In the blind-walking experiment, judged distance in real-world outdoor was greater than that in real-world indoor. On the other hand, the virtual environment had no impact on distance judgment estimated by blind-walking. Generally, our results suggest that both the virtual and real-world environments have an impact on distance judgment in VR. Especially, the real-world environment where a person is physically located during a VR experience influences the person’s distance estimation in VR.

虚拟现实 (VR) 中的体验是独一无二的，因为观察者在浏览虚拟场景时处于真实世界的位置。以前的研究调查了虚拟环境对距离估计的影响。然而，目前尚不清楚现实世界的环境如何影响 VR 中的距离估计。在这里，我们使用二分法（实验 1）和盲行（实验 2 和 3）方法测量了距离估计。参与者在 VR 中执行距离判断，渲染虚拟室内或室外场景。还在真实世界的室内或室外地点进行了实验。在二等分实验中，虚拟室外的判断距离大于虚拟室内的判断距离。然而，现实世界的环境对二分法估计的距离判断没有影响。在盲人行走实验中，真实世界室外的判断距离大于真实世界室内的距离。另一方面，虚拟环境对盲行估计的距离判断没有影响。一般来说，我们的结果表明，虚拟环境和现实世界环境都会对 VR 中的距离判断产生影响。特别是，在 VR 体验期间，人所处的真实世界环境会影响人在 VR 中的距离估计。