An Investigation to Understand Spatial Ability Towards Emotional Engagement in an Immersive Virtual Reality Application (original) (raw)

Virtual Reality is 'Finally Here': A Qualitative Exploration of Formal Determinants of Player Experience in VR

It is already a truism that consumer virtual reality (VR) systems offer sensorially immersive first-person experiences that differ markedly from those begat by traditional screen displays. But what are the implications of this for player experience? It is well-documented that VR can induce illusions of non-mediation; of spatial presence; of embodiment in avatars. This paper asks—and reports on—what common features of digital games are liable to be experienced as stressors (that is, as beyond optimally affective or intense) when the player perceives her avatar–self egocentrically as a 'life-sized', spatially present, and potentially vulnerable entity within the gameworld. The present paper describes and discusses findings from a qualitative content analysis of immersive virtual environments (IVEs) experienced via head-mounted display-based VR systems akin to those now commercially available. A purposive sample comprising video, photographic, and written documentation of IVEs (n = 124) from historical clinical VR and telepresence research is interrogated through the lens of cognitive media theory. Effecting a novel approach inspired by systematic review, the present study's observations and inferences regarding players' subjective experience of IVEs are presented alongside relevant findings from the research literature sampled. This produces a preliminary formal framework for discussing VR player experience as significantly structured by patiency (cf. agency), with VR experiences eliciting self-directed affect, and thereby somewhat unintentionally engaging the player's body as a site for feedback.

The Immersive Virtual Reality Experience: A Typology of Users Revealed Through Multiple Correspondence Analysis Combined with Cluster Analysis Technique

Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking, 2016

Immersive virtual reality is thought to be advantageous by leading to higher levels of presence. However, and despite users getting actively involved in immersive three-dimensional virtual environments that incorporate sound and motion, there are individual factors, such as age, video game knowledge, and the predisposition to immersion, that may be associated with the quality of virtual reality experience. Moreover, one particular concern for users engaged in immersive virtual reality environments (VREs) is the possibility of side effects, such as cybersickness. The literature suggests that at least 60% of virtual reality users report having felt symptoms of cybersickness, which reduces the quality of the virtual reality experience. The aim of this study was thus to profile the right user to be involved in a VRE through head-mounted display. To examine which user characteristics are associated with the most effective virtual reality experience (lower cybersickness), a multiple corre...

Influencing Human Affective Responses to Dynamic Virtual Environments

PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 2016

Detecting and measuring emotional responses while interacting with virtual reality (VR), and assessing and interpreting their impacts on human engagement and “immersion,” are both academically and technologically challenging. While many researchers have, in the past, focused on the affective evaluation of passive environments, such as listening to music or the observation of videos and imagery, virtual realities and related interactive environments have been used in only a small number of research studies as a mean of presenting emotional stimuli. This article reports the first stage (focusing on participants' subjective responses) of a range of experimental investigations supporting the evaluation of emotional responses within a virtual environment, according to a three-dimensional (Valence, Arousal, and Dominance) model of affects, developed in the 1970s and 1980s. To populate this three-dimensional model with participants' emotional responses, an “affective VR,” capable o...

Cybersickness in Virtual Reality Questionnaire (CSQ-VR): A Validation and Comparison against SSQ and VRSQ

Virtual Worlds

Cybersickness is a drawback of virtual reality (VR), which also affects the cognitive and motor skills of users. The Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) and its variant, the Virtual Reality Sickness Questionnaire (VRSQ), are two tools that measure cybersickness. However, both tools suffer from important limitations which raise concerns about their suitability. Two versions of the Cybersickness in VR Questionnaire (CSQ-VR), a paper-and-pencil and a 3D–VR version, were developed. The validation of the CSQ-VR and a comparison against the SSQ and the VRSQ were performed. Thirty-nine participants were exposed to three rides with linear and angular accelerations in VR. Assessments of cognitive and psychomotor skills were performed at baseline and after each ride. The validity of both versions of the CSQ-VR was confirmed. Notably, CSQ-VR demonstrated substantially better internal consistency than both SSQ and VRSQ. Additionally, CSQ-VR scores had significantly better psychometric proper...

Virtual Experience Test: A virtual environment evaluation questionnaire

Virtual Reality Conference (VR), …

We present the development and evaluation of the Virtual Experience Test (VET). The VET is a survey instrument used to measure holistic virtual environment experiences based upon the five dimensions of experiential design: sensory, cognitive, affective, active, and relational. Experiential Design (ED) is a holistic approach to enhance presence in virtual environments that goes beyond existing presence theory (i.e. a focus on the sensory aspects of VE experiences) to include affective and cognitive factors.

Virtual Reality Experience: Immersion, Sense of Presence, and Cybersickness

Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 2020

Introduction: Virtual reality (VR) is a recent topic in healthcare education. Little is known about the factors affecting the immersion and the sense of presence in VR. This study aimed to understand the elements that influence the sense of presence among undergraduate healthcare students and postgraduate (PG). Methods: Undergraduate healthcare students (n ¼ 42) and PG (n ¼ 19) were immersed in a mass casualty incidenteimmersive simulation. Participants completed questionnaires before (immersion propensity, stress) and after immersion (sense of presence, stress, cybersickness, and satisfaction). The qualitative component of the study provided the context for the quantitative results. Results: The sense of presence was high among both groups but higher among PG (p ¼ .02) and was positively correlated to immersion propensity (r ¼ 0.36; p < .001). The level of cybersickness was low despite a discomfort induced by the VR material. A significant group-by-time effect was found for stress (p < .001). Stress levels increased more in the PG through the immersion without effect on the sense of presence. Conclusion: In accordance with the results, the mass casualty incidenteimmersive simulation induced a high level of sense of presence and a low level of cybersickness. The sense of presence was correlated with the individual immersion propensity.

Emotional Qualities of VR Space

The emotional response a person has to a living space is predominantly affected by light, color and texture as space-making elements. In order to verify whether this phenomenon could be replicated in a simulated environment, we conducted a user study in a six-sided projected immersive display that utilized equivalent design attributes of brightness, color and texture in order to assess to which extent the emotional response in a simulated environment is affected by the same parameters affecting real environments. Since emotional response depends upon the context, we evaluated the emotional responses of two groups of users: inactive (passive) and active (performing a typical daily activity). The results from the perceptual study generated data from which design principles for a virtual living space are articulated. Such a space, as an alternative to expensive built dwellings, could potentially support new, minimalist lifestyles of occupants, defined as the neo-nomads, aligned with their work experience in the digital domain through the generation of emotional experiences of spaces. Data from the experiments confirmed the hypothesis that perceivable emotional aspects of real-world spaces could be successfully generated through simulation of design attributes in the virtual space. The subjective response to the virtual space was consistent with corresponding responses from real-world color and brightness emotional perception. Our data could serve the virtual reality (VR) community in its attempt to conceive of further applications of virtual spaces for well-defined activities.

Examination of Cybersickness in Virtual Reality: The Role of Individual Differences, Effects on Cognitive Functions & Motor Skills, and Intensity Differences During and After Immersion.pdf

Background: Given that VR is applied in multiple domains, understanding the effects of cybersickness on human cognition and motor skills and the factors contributing to cybersickness gains urgency. This study aimed to explore the predictors of cybersickness and its interplay with cognitive and motor skills. Methods: 30 participants, 20-45 years old, completed the MSSQ and the CSQ-VR, and were immersed in VR. During immersion, they were exposed to a roller coaster ride. Before and after the ride, participants responded to CSQ-VR and performed VR-based cognitive and psychomotor tasks. Post VR session, participants completed the CSQ-VR again. Results: Motion sickness susceptibility, during adulthood, was the most prominent predictor of cybersickness. Pupil dilation emerged as a significant predictor of cybersickness. Experience in videogaming was a significant predictor of both cybersickness and cognitive/motor functions. Cybersickness negatively affected visuospatial working memory a...

Evaluating the Factors Affecting QoE of 360-Degree Videos and Cybersickness Levels Predictions in Virtual Reality

Electronics, 2020

360-degree Virtual Reality (VR) videos have already taken up viewers’ attention by storm. Despite the immense attractiveness and hype, VR conveys a loathsome side effect called “cybersickness” that often creates significant discomfort to the viewers. It is of great importance to evaluate the factors that induce cybersickness symptoms and its deterioration on the end user’s Quality-of-Experience (QoE) when visualizing 360-degree videos in VR. This manuscript’s intent is to subjectively investigate factors of high priority that affect a user’s QoE in terms of perceptual quality, presence, and cybersickness. The content type (fast, medium, and slow), the effect of camera motion (fixed, horizontal, and vertical), and the number of moving targets (none, single, and multiple) in a video can be the factors that may affect the QoE. The significant effect of such factors on end-user QoE under various stalling events (none, single, and multiple) is evaluated in a subjective experiment. The re...