Now, step forward, without changing your posture. This side-to-side movement is commonly known as “strafing.”
This is the first directional axis, known as “x”. Step to the right, and then to the left - in a straight line. The movements you are about to take will mimic the three translational axes. Imagine yourself - or feel free to physically do this if you’ve got enough room, just don’t collide with any bystanders! - looking straight ahead, and keeping your face turned forward and motionless at all times. (The axes can, and do change, across various applications.) Without going too far down the VR development rabbit hole, for the purposes of this example, we will be using what’s known as a “Z-up” coordinate system. The translational axes are the most straightforward, so we’ll start there. A 3dof VR experience will limit you to one set, rotational or translational, but not both.
There are three main axes (translational), and three secondary axes (rotational). “Dof” stands for “degrees of freedom.” The number attached to it stands for how many different axes are being tracked.
