Simulating Avatars' Stamina in Virtual Reality through Weight-Changing Controllers

With growing exertion, effortful actions become increasingly difficult, shaping how people pace and perform physical tasks. To realistically convey this experience in Virtual Reality (VR), systems must replicate not only the visual but also the physical sensations of exhaustion. We propose a technique for conveying avatars’ exhaustion by leveraging weight-changing VR controllers (PumpVR) to align their physical weight with the avatars’ stamina. As stamina decreases, controller weight increases to simulate the rising effort required for movement, and vice versa. We integrated this mechanism into a VR climbing game and conducted a user study (n = 24) comparing stamina-mirroring weight feedback to controllers with static weight. Results showed that stamina-mirroring weight significantly enhanced users’ perceived realism and enjoyment, while increasing perceived exertion. Our findings demonstrate the potential of weight feedback to convey physiological states in VR, offering a more embodied and realistic alternative to purely visual representations.