MicroVRide: Exploring 4-in-1 Virtual Reality Micromobility Simulator
This work provides a low-risk, controlled VR environment for studying rider experiences across multiple micromobility vehicles, addressing the lack of such simulators for researchers and designers.
The authors developed MicroVRide, a modular VR simulator supporting four micromobility vehicles (e-scooter, Segway, unicycle, skateboard) on a single platform, and demonstrated its feasibility through a 12-participant study showing distinct experiential profiles across vehicles.
Micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, Segways, skateboards, and unicycles, are increasingly adopted for short-distance travel due to their low weight and low emissions. Despite their growing popularity, we lack controlled, low-risk environments to study rider experiences and performance. While virtual reality (VR) simulators offer a promising approach by reducing safety risks and providing immersive experiences, micromobility simulators remain largely underexplored. We introduce MicroVRide, a modular 4-in-1 VR micromobility simulator that supports e-scooters, Segways, electric unicycles, and one-wheeled skateboards on a single platform. The simulator preserves vehicle-specific physical constraints and control metaphors, enabling the study of diverse riding behaviors with minimal hardware reconfiguration. We contribute the simulator design and report a preliminary within-subject study (N = 12) that demonstrates feasibility and reveals distinct experiential profiles across vehicles.