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Virtual reality technology is constantly improving such that a virtual environment is more like a physical one. However, some research evidence suggest that certain virtual reality scenarios are less real than others to human observers (e.g., experience of falling from a high place) leading to potential limitations of using virtual reality as a research tool for certain tasks. Moreover, since the inception of VR research the terms presence and immersion have been somewhat convoluted and at times, even used interchangeably. Using a thematic content analysis based on seventeen articles, a theme for each term emerged. Presence is an experiential quality in virtual environments and immersion is associated with the technical aspects of a virtual system that aide the user in feeling a sense of presence. Several new technologies, as well as more traditional approaches are discussed as potential methods to improve of immersion, and therefore presence, in virtual reality.
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A Mini Review of Presence and Immersion in Virtual Reality
Michael Wilkinson, Sean Brantley, Jing Feng
North Carolina State University
Virtual reality technology is constantly improving such that a virtual environment is more like a physical
one. However, some research evidence suggest that certain virtual reality scenarios are less real than others
to human observers (e.g., experience of falling from a high place) leading to potential limitations of using
virtual reality as a research tool for certain tasks. Moreover, since the inception of VR research the terms
presence and immersion have been somewhat convoluted and at times, even used interchangeably. Using a
thematic content analysis based on seventeen articles, a theme for each term emerged. Presence is an
experiential quality in virtual environments and immersion is associated with the technical aspects of a
virtual system that aide the user in feeling a sense of presence. Several new technologies, as well as more
traditional approaches are discussed as potential methods to improve of immersion, and therefore presence,
in virtual reality.
INTRODUCTION
Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated
environment (Biocca, 1992) with a user-interface (UI) that
displays a real-time simulation by which an individual(s) can
interact through one or more sensory channels (Burdea &
Coiffet, 1994; Lee & Wong, 2014). The current and
continuously evolving technology allows for an impressive
experience using virtual reality with head-mounted displays
(VR-HMDs), especially with regard to height-related events.
In recent years, the use of this technology has become
more widespread due to cheaper buy-in options. VR has found
a home in gaming (Oculus, HVT Vive, PlayStation, Google
Cardboard, etc.), clinical and more generalized research, and
in training.
VR-HMDs tend to have a more palpable sense of
presence compared to traditional two-dimensional (2D)
displays. For example, Pallavicini et al. (2019) found that
while there were no differences in performance with regards to
usability between VR and traditional 2D desktop displays,
participants elicited stronger emotional responses as well as a
stronger sense of presence in VR while playing a video game.
In particular, height-related events in VR makes the interactive
experience evocative and realistic and are frequently studied
in VR as well as other fear-inducing stimuli. While research
concerning presence and realism between VR and 2D displays
is reasonably strong, that evidence notwithstanding, it is
unclear whether there are any presence-related limitations to
VR and whether is it possible to mitigate those limitations.
There have been a wide range of studies that examine the
efficacy of VR associated with presence which is generally
measured by objective arousal such as heart rate and skin
conductance, and subjective arousal using a multitude of
rating scales. Some research points to the equivalency of VR
to physical reality. Notably, Simeonov et al. (2005) compared
a real-world situation of leaning over a rail from a 9m high
balcony to a similar surround screen virtual reality (SSVR)
simulation. Their results indicated comparable levels of
anxiety and risk in both situations; however, SSVR achieved
lower heart rate and skin conductance responses, as well as a
lower sense of danger. One of the limitations of this study is
the use of SSVR which tends to have a less immersive quality
compared to VR-HMDs because participants are able to see
the edges of the screens. In contrast, other evidence seems to
suggest notable limitations of VR related to presence. Peterson
et al. (2018) used a beam walk for their VR study to test
physiological stress and cognitive load. They also used a
physical wooden beam for participants to walk across as a way
to provide tactile feedback. By recording beam step-offs
(errors), heart rate, electrodermal activity, response time and
electroencephalography (EEG), they found that their high
height condition elicited increased heart rate variability
compared to the low height condition. Further, participants’
performance (balance) decreased. While these findings do
suggest that VR may provide an experience which is
comparable to reality, VR does seem to be associated with
poorer physical and cognitive performance such as increased
RT as compared to performance when participants walked on
a physical wooden beam.
Recently, Wilkinson et al. (2019) conducted a study to
explore subjective experience of slow-motion using VR which
consisted of various height-related events (three events for
arousal manipulations: walking on a sidewalk, plank-walking
from 100m height, falling from the plank from top of a
building) coupled with a perceptual encoding task. Heart rate
was used as an objective measure of arousal. Although it was
hypothesized that the condition involving falling would be the
most arousal eliciting, the study found the two conditions
involving planks had comparable heart rates and were both
significantly higher than that of the condition that involved
walking on a sidewalk. A potential explanation is a ceiling
effect such that the conditions of presence and/or immersion in
VR are not sufficient enough to elicit a higher arousal
response while falling. If this is the case, is it possible to break
through this ceiling? But what is presence and what is
immersion? Given the inconsistencies in the findings as well
as how the two constructs are defined, a mini review was
conducted. In particular, attention was given to the
operationalization of presence and immersion as well as how
they were manipulated in research.
Copyright 2021 by Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved. 10.1177/1071181321651148
Proceedings of the 2021 HFES 65th International Annual Meeting 1099
Many studies examining presence and immersion in VR
generally compare this [VR] technology to another medium or
the real world. Although some research suggests the
effectiveness of VR-HMDs in supporting participants’
feelings of being in the world just like in the physical one,
Wilkinson et al. (2019) discovered that there may be a ceiling
effect that certain scenarios may not lead to optimal presence
(i.e., the experience of falling was not realistic enough to make
participants believe they were actually falling).
VR technology has been used for a few decades now and
the terms of presence and immersion have, at times, become
convoluted, and even used interchangeably in some cases.
Therefore, an exploration of how they are defined is
necessary. Furthermore, few studies have explored ways to
increase presence. Thus, the purpose of this paper is two-fold:
(1) to explore how presence and immersion are defined and
distinguished (if so) in the literature and (2) explore possible
methods that may increase presence in VR.
METHOD
A mini review was conducted with a literature search
involving two databases (PsycINFO and ProQuest) of peer-
reviewed articles from 2016 to 2021 using key terms and
AND/OR logics (Figure 1). The most recent five years were
chosen as a way to clarify the most findings. Some literature
was also identified via checking publications cited in those
articles’ reference lists, which were not restricted by date.
Articles were initially screened based on title and abstract to
determine whether an article was specifically exploring
presence and/or immersion in VR. Additional
inclusion/exclusion criteria are described in Figure 1. A
thematic content analysis was conducted to explore the key
words/phrases used to define presence and immersion and also
the share terms between presence and immersion.
Figure 1. Literature search and screening procedure.
An initial search revealed 132 matches for keywords and
terms which were narrowed down to 17 articles at the end of
the process. We plan to extract various information such the
definition of presence and immersion, how they were
manipulated (and any limitations), a well as the findings on
subjective and objective behavioral measures. This present
paper analyzes how each study defined presence and
immersion related to VR and provides a brief summary of how
to improve presence and immersion.
RESULTS
Definitions of Presence and Immersion
First, each term’s [total discovered] definitions (presence
= 11; immersion = 6) were input into MonkeyLearn, a word
cloud generator. Word clouds are visual representations of
words used in text. The more often a word is used within a
given text, the larger that word is in the cloud. The
visualization for presence revealed four meaningful
words/phrases: environment, illusion, experience, and
subjective feeling (Figure 2). The phrase, “virtual
environment” was excluded due to its contextual similarity to
“environment”. The visualization for immersion revealed three
meaningful words: experience, system, and environment
(Figure 3). The word “extent” is used frequently; however, in
the absence of context it provides no value itself with regard to
VR.
Figure 2. Word cloud for the term, “presence”.
Figure 3. Word cloud for the term, “immersion”.
Copyright 2021 by Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved. 10.1177/1071181321651148
Proceedings of the 2021 HFES 65th International Annual Meeting 1100
In addition to the preliminary analysis using word cloud
visualization, we also examined how each included article
operationalized the terms presence and immersion. In its
context within the definition, presence is generally associated
with the experience of being in another place or situation – a
detachment from normal reality and a perceptual attachment
to a different reality (Table 1). On the other hand, immersion
is associated with the more technical aspect related to the
illusion. It is a more objective quality of VR insofar as the
technology is capable of providing realistic feedback, general
interaction, and its ability to allow the user to move and
behave as they would normally (Table 2). The thematic
content analysis revealed two themes: presence is experiential,
immersion is the technical qualities of a system that aide the
feeling of presence. This seems to fall in line with the
Presence Questionnaire (PQ) by Witmer et al., (2005)
suggesting that presence and immersion are related, but not
completely identical, as the questions related to the abilities of
the system loaded onto the immersion/adaptation factor of
their scale, which accounted for 5.7% of the variance.
Table 1.
Definitions of presence related to virtual reality.
Study
Definition
Roettl & Terlutter
(2018)
Sense of being in a virtually mediated location
instead of being in a real location.
Triberti & Riva (2016)
Cognitive process with the purpose to locate the
Self in a physical space or situation, based on
the perceived possibility to act in it.
Zahorik & Jenison
(1998)
Tantamount to successfully supported action in
the environment.
Lombard & Ditton
(
1997)
Perceptual illusion of non-mediation.
Slater (2018)
Illusion of being there, notwithstanding that you
know for sure that you are not. It is a perceptual
but not a cognitive illusion.
Pan & Hamiliton (2018)
Making you feel like you are somewhere else.
Cooper et al. (2018)
Subjective feeling of being present in the virtual
environment, rather than the real space.
Makransky & Lilleholt
(2018)
A psychological state in which the virtuality of
the experience goes unnoticed.
Kisker et al. (2019).
The subjective feeling of being there in a virtual
environment while the awareness of the
physical environment and technical equipment
diminishes.
Slater (2003)
The extent to which the unification of simulated
sensory data and perceptual processing
produces a coherent place that you are in and
where there may be a potential for you to act.
Diemer (2015)
The perceptual distance between the actual
experience and the simulated experience.
Table 2.
Definitions of immersion related to virtual reality.
Study
Definition
Slater (2018)
Objective property of the system, to the extent
to which a VR system can support natural
sensorimotor contingencies for perception
including the response to a perceptual action.
Witmer & Singer (1998,
2005
)
A subjective experience: the psychological
state where one perceives oneself as being
included in and interacting with an
environment that provides a continuous stream
of stimuli and experience.
Kisker et al. (2019)
Slater & Wilbur (1997)
The degree to which a technical system
generates an inclusive, extensive, surrounding,
and vivid illusion of reality.
Slater et al. (1996)
A quantifiable description of technology,
which includes the extent to which the
computer displays are extensive, surrounding,
inclusive, vivid, and matching.
Shu et al. (2019)
The result of a good gaming experience that
includes disconnection from the real world and
real time, and involvement in the task
environment.
Slater & Wilbur (1997)
To be shut out of physical reality, offering high
fidelity simulations through multiple sensory
modalities, finely maps a user’s virtual bodily
actions to the physical counterparts, and
removes the participant from the external world
through self
-contained plots and narratives.
Improving Presence and Immersion in VR
Based on the findings of the reviewed articles and
authors’ understanding of other relevant domains and
technology, the section summarizes methods that may be
effective in improving presence and/or immersion in VR.
One way to enhance presence is to increase immersion.
Older graphics cards render three-dimensional (3D) images
through a series of polygons that can be shaded. New graphics
cards, such as the NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super simulate the
behavior of light by tracing the path it would take if it were
traveling from the human eye through the environment,
allowing it to create shadows and refractions (NVIDIA
Developer, n.d.).
Multi-sensory feedback is also another way to increase
immersion. Hecht et al. (2008) found that RT for trimodal
signals were faster than RT for bimodal signals. The use of
haptic feedback is now commercially viable and may serve as
another sensory feedback system to supplement traditional
visual and auditory stimuli (Figure 4). It is also possible to
create haptic feedback outside of the VR environment. For
instance, Simeonov et al. (2005) built a physical railing for
participants to lean over when comparing height effects in real
life and virtual environments using SSVR. Additionally, many
studies such as Kisker et al. (2019) have employed the use of
wooden planks or beams as a means for haptic feedback
outside the virtual world, providing participants the sensation
of having to balance while seeing a plank in VR.
Copyright 2021 by Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved. 10.1177/1071181321651148
Proceedings of the 2021 HFES 65th International Annual Meeting 1101
Auditory stimuli in the environment could also play a
role in presence and immersion. While conducting research,
we often attempt to mute ambient sound for more
experimental control. Although, this may not necessarily be
beneficial for research conducted in VR. The cinema industry
has led the way in terms of sound design to create a more
intense sense of presence in movies and games (Serafin &
Serafin, 2004). This may also be an overlooked but important
aspect of developing relevant research design in VR if one
were to attempt more realism for their study.
Emotion has often been linked to presence (Roettl &
Terlutter, 2018), especially in regard to physiological or
subjective arousal. Gromer et al. (2019) found that not only
more detailed sound and visual stimuli led to higher ratings of
presence within participants, but emotional responses also led
to stronger feelings of presence during height exposure in VR.
This is also related to Slater and Wilbur’s (1997) definition
that immersion encompasses the removal of a participant from
the real world through self-contained plots and narratives.
Figure 4. Plexus haptic feedback gloves for virtual reality systems,
(Nadyrshin, 2019)
Lastly, newer technology such as commercially available
LiDAR has been increasingly useful for 3D model rendering.
It may now be possible to create more realistic avatars and
other environmental features (such as furniture) via LiDAR
scanning (Figure 5). With this in mind, we propose a new
method of a slow integration into a virtual environment for
research. A researcher can take a 360-degree video of a real
room, where a participant is able to look around in all
directions. Over the course of several minutes, 3D rendered
models can fade into the environment, similar to that if one
were transitioning from one scene to another in a movie. More
realistic figures and objects afford the user a smaller leap into
a virtual world and may provide a stronger sense of presence
given more familiarity with their interaction in an environment
(Figure 6).
Figure 5. 3D rendering of a bust using a mobile application, (Sculpteo, 2021).
Figure 6. Transition of a real human from video to avatar in VR.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this paper was to examine and distinguish
definitions of presence and immersion in an attempt to more
accurately define them, as well as to provide a synopsis about
how they may be improved in VR. Further, presence has been
more often used in VR research when comparing two or more
mediums to ascertain which is more practical or useful for a
given purpose. Moreover, many studies relate to presence in
the sense that it exists or does not exist under context-specific
conditions in VR.
There are newer, commercially available options for
enhancing immersion in VR, which can subsequently improve
presence, such as haptic feedback gloves and vests and ray-
tracing graphics cards. A more traditional method is sound
design for auditory feedback taken from the entertainment
industry. These newer technologies and re-visited methods
may be instrumental in raising the ceiling effect for increasing
presence. Lastly, we propose a LiDAR as a way to easily (and
affordably) render 3D models to be used in VR which can be
slowly transitioned into an environment to mitigate the
uncanny valley.
There are a few limitations of the current study that
could be addressed in future research. First, this mini review
was based on article searches from only two databases,
PsycINFO and ProQuest. A more comprehensive and
exhaustive search with more databases could widen the
coverage. Another limitation of this paper was the
methodology. Thematic content analyses are subject to biases
by the researcher(s). In addition, the preliminary analysis used
word clouds for easier theme searchability; however, word
clouds on their own as a sole means to a thematic content
analysis tend to lack context. Despite this limitation, word
clouds provide some unique values by visualizations which
distinguished the terms while also showing that presence and
immersion had been a point of contention in the past.
There is no question that involving new technological
aspects for better immersion (ray-tracing graphics cards,
haptic feedback apparel) is likely to be a more costly option as
well suffering from usability issues both for researchers and
participants. Moreover, Cummings and Bailenson (2015)
found that immersion itself has a medium-sized effect on
presence, although individual immersive features varied in
their effect size. However, the advent of newer technology
coupled with the ability to slowly transition a participant into a
virtual world may prove to be worthwhile. Cummings and
Copyright 2021 by Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved. 10.1177/1071181321651148
Proceedings of the 2021 HFES 65th International Annual Meeting 1102
Bailenson (2015) concur that the limitation of their meta-
analysis is that it compares technologies that change and
improve with time.
One potential future research is to explore commercially
available LiDAR technology as a viable option to realistically
render models in virtual reality. This technology has the
potential to work along with ray-tracing graphics cards, better
sound design, and haptic feedback, all of which may
contribute to presence and immersion in VR, enhancing the
VR experience as well as its value in research.
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Proceedings of the 2021 HFES 65th International Annual Meeting 1103
... Similarly to presence, there is no one concrete shared definition stating what immersion is (Wilkinson, Brantley, & Feng, 2021). Immersion is oftentimes mixed up, used interchangeably (e.g. ...
... Some VR researchers regard immersion as a technical construct, including the number of sensory modalities and resolution of the VR device (Bowman & McMahan, 2007;Slater & Wilbur, 1997;Wilkinson et al., 2021), while others regard immersion more as a subjective experience or psychological state overlapping with presence (Krauss et al., 2001;Witmer & Singer, 1998). A recent review on definitions of immersion also makes a distinction between system immersion and sensory or perceptual immersion (Nilsson, Nordahl, & Serafin, 2016). ...
... Experiments in auditory and cognitive sciences research are increasingly conducted in virtual reality (VR) environments [1,2]. VR can evoke a higher feeling of presence, the feeling of "being in a scene" [3], compared to computer monitor presentations [4]. Thus, VR is widely employed to create immersive environments that approximate real-life scenarios. ...
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Virtual reality (VR) environments are frequently used in auditory and cognitive research to imitate real-life scenarios, presumably enhancing state-of-the-art approaches with traditional computer screens. However, the effects of different display technologies on audiovisual processing remain underexplored. This study investigated how VR displayed with an head-mounted display (HMD) affects serial recall performance compared to traditional computer monitors, focusing on their effects on audiovisual processing in cognitive tasks. For that matter, we conducted two experiments with both an HMD and a computer monitor as display devices and two types of audiovisual incongruences: angle (Exp. 1) and voice (Exp. 2) incongruence. To quantify cognitive performance an audiovisual verbal serial recall (avVSR) task was developed where an embodied conversational agent (ECA) was animated to speak the target digit sequence. Even though subjective evaluations showed a higher sense of presence in the HMD condition, we found no effect of the display device on the proportion of correctly recalled digits. For the extreme conditions of angle incongruence in the computer monitor presentation the proportion of correctly recalled digits increased marginally, presumably due to raised attention, but the effect is likely too small to be meaningful. Response times were not affected by incongruences in either display device across both experiments. These findings suggest that the avVSR task is robust against angular and voice audiovisual incongruences, irrespective of the display device, at least for the conditions studied here. Hence, the study introduces the avVSR task in VR and contributes to the understanding of audiovisual integration.
... Presence is the sense of being in the IVR experience rather than in the actual environment (Sanchez-Vives and Slater 2005; Wilkinson et al. 2021). Many participants commented on their feelings about being part of the environment, "I hadn't done it before, so it was really neat to feel an immersive environment and get to experience something outside of what my current environment is," and "I like that you can be really present." ...
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To investigate perspectives of people with chronic pain regarding aspects of immersive virtual reality (IVR) that enhance and reduce engagement and the outcomes of engagement in IVR. This content analysis was performed on data obtained through open-ended interview questions from a study aiming to understand the influence of IVR on chronic pain study at a research lab at a university. Participants included a sample of 20 adults who completed the parent study. Results highlight that presence, agency, customization, and novelty are important aspects that enhance engagement in IVR, with agency and presence being mentioned most frequently. Meanwhile, secondary effects of IVR and usability were said to reduce engagement with the IVR. Outcomes of engagement with IVR include enjoyment, mood elevation, relaxation/calming, a distraction from pain, and a loss of reality. This study provides an initial understanding of individuals’ perspectives of engagement with IVR in relation to chronic pain management. Health professionals using IVR to treat people with chronic pain can use these elements to facilitate engagement in their clients. Further research should be done to study the association between engagement in IVR and pain reduction to improve the development of IVR programs for chronic pain management.
... If these processes are successful, the feeling of spatial presence is fed back and becomes available for conscious processes. According to Wilkinson et al., this can have an objective quality in terms of the technology used in the construction of the virtual environment and its ability to afford realistic feedback to the viewer in terms of the user's interaction in such a world as they usually would [38]. ...
... Presence in virtual environments is an experiential attribute, while the term immersion is linked to the technical elements of a virtual system that assist the user in experiencing a sense of presence (Wilkinson et al., 2021). Immersion in VR worlds facilitates a sense of presence and embodiment. ...
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Once relegated to a subfield of academic communication research, discussions of parasocial relationships (PSRs) are increasingly diffusing through popular media for consumption and pondering by much larger audiences. In the same technological moment, virtual reality (VR) represents a transformative technology that immerses users in computer-generated environments, offering multisensory experiences through video, audio, and haptic feedback. This essay explores some of the avenues in which traditional parasocial research might intersect and be applied to immersive VR experiences. PSRs have great potential to advance our understanding of the effects of VR on ourselves and our relationships with others, both real and mediated.
Chapter
This chapter provides a comprehensive exploration of the sense of presence in virtual reality, emphasizing navigational experience and comparing the presence profile of MaxWhere desktop VR with other VR systems. It thoroughly investigates theoretical foundations, technological and human factors influencing presence, measurement tools, and experimental findings related to the sense of presence. The theoretical section offers foundational definitions of presence, exploring its relationship with immersion. Discussion on technological and human factors influencing presence includes recent results highlighting the correlation between the sense of presence and task performance in VR. The chapter introduces commonly used measurement tools and methods, such as the IPQ (Igroup Presence Questionnaire), while the navigational experience was assessed through a 10-point Likert scale based on five statements. The study included 31 individuals (mean age 20.5 years, SD: 3.4). The results support the hypothesis that navigational experience correlates with a stronger sense of presence. In this examination, participants were divided into two groups based on their proficiency with MaxWhere VR: distinguishing between novices and experienced users. Novices perceived the virtual environment as less realistic compared to experienced users. Lastly, a comparison of the presence profile between MaxWhere desktop VR and other VR systems extends and complements the earlier findings.
Article
Neurofeedback refers to the process of feeding a sensory representation of brain activity back to users in real time to improve a particular brain function, e.g., their focus and/or attention on a particular task. This study addressed the notable lack of research on methods used to visualize EEG data and their effects on the immersive quality of VR. We developed an algorithm to quantify focus, yielding a focus score. A pre-study with twenty participants confirmed its effectiveness in distinguishing between focused and relaxed mental states. Subsequently, we used this focus score to prototype a VR experience system visualizing the focus score in preconfigured manners, which was utilized in an exploratory study to assess the impact of different neurofeedback visualization methods on user engagement and focus in VR. Among all the visualization methods evaluated, the environmental scheme stood out due to its superior usability during task execution, its ability to evoke positive emotions through the visualization of objects or scenes, and its minimal deviation from user expectations. Additionally, we explored design guidelines based on collected results for future research to further refine the visualization scheme, ensuring effective integration of the focus score within the VR environment. These enhancements are crucial for designing neurofeedback visualization schemes that aim to boost participant focus in VR settings, offering significant insights into the optimization of such technologies.
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This study investigates the effects of emotional priming in virtual reality (VR) on time perception using a temporal bisection task and the potential effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in hindering emotional processing. Fifty-three participants underwent active anodal or sham tDCS on the right vmPFC while exposed to neutral or fear-inducing VR videos. The participants then completed a temporal bisection task. The study measured arousal and valence through self-report questionnaires and psychophysiological measures (heart rate, heart rate variability, electrodermal activity). The results indicate that VR priming was effective in producing changes in arousal and valence, but this had no impact on time perception. Also, tDCS did not modulate the relationship between priming and time perception. These findings show the viability of using VR to generate emotional states, but these may not always produce changes in time perception. tDCS, as applied according to our protocol, also seemed unable to regulate fear processing.
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The only evidence that seeing in slow-motion exists comes from retrospective interviews. An ongoing debate is whether this phenomenon exists as a figment of memory or a true function of visual perception. Testing these speculations is difficult given slow-motion experience is often associated with intense, stressful, and even threatening situations that dramatically heighten arousal. Virtual reality systems might provide an opportunity to study the experience online, thus offering insights into the speculated mechanisms. This study explores the feasibility to induce heightened arousal and its possible implications on perceptual encoding of information. Participants were exposed to various situations designed to influence arousal as measured by heart rate, and an implicit memory task was used for each situation to test perceptual processing. This study did not reveal performance gains associated with increased physiological arousal.
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Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly gaining importance as a valuable methodical tool for psychological research. The greatest benefit of using VR is generating rich, complex and vivid, but still highly controllable settings. As VR has been found to elicit lifelike psychophysiological and emotional responses, we examined by means of a height exposure whether VR resembles physical reality to the necessary degree to constitute a suitable framework for investigating real-life behavior in a controlled experimental context. As hypothesized, participants behaved in VR exactly as would be appropriate in a real environment: Being exposed to great height, participants walked significantly slower across a virtual steel girder construction protruding from a high-rise building as compared to participants who traversed the very same construction on the ground level. In the height condition, this realistic behavior could be predicted on basis of the participants’ trait anxiety. Aligned with the behavioral responses, they showed realistic psychophysiological responses, i.e., an elevated heart rate when exposed to height. Interestingly, participants of the height condition reported a greater sense of presence, which indicates that emotions have an elevating effect on presence. As a conclusion, our findings provide further evidence that VR evokes lifelike responses at both behavioral and psychophysiological level and therefore increases ecological validity of psychological experiments.
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Virtual reality plays an increasingly important role in research and therapy of pathological fear. However, the mechanisms how virtual environments elicit and modify fear responses are not yet fully understood. Presence, a psychological construct referring to the ‘sense of being there’ in a virtual environment, is widely assumed to crucially influence the strength of the elicited fear responses, however, causality is still under debate. The present study is the first that experimentally manipulated both variables to unravel the causal link between presence and fear responses. Height-fearful participants (N = 49) were immersed into a virtual height situation and a neutral control situation (fear manipulation) with either high versus low sensory realism (presence manipulation). Ratings of presence and verbal and physiological (skin conductance, heart rate) fear responses were recorded. Results revealed an effect of the fear manipulation on presence, i.e., higher presence ratings in the height situation compared to the neutral control situation, but no effect of the presence manipulation on fear responses. However, the presence ratings during the first exposure to the high quality neutral environment were predictive of later fear responses in the height situation. Our findings support the hypothesis that experiencing emotional responses in a virtual environment leads to a stronger feeling of being there, i.e., increase presence. In contrast, the effects of presence on fear seem to be more complex: on the one hand, increased presence due to the quality of the virtual environment did not influence fear; on the other hand, presence variability that likely stemmed from differences in user characteristics did predict later fear responses. These findings underscore the importance of user characteristics in the emergence of presence.
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Virtual reality (VR) has made it possible for users to access novel digital experiences. An interesting question that arises in the context of VR is whether it appears or feels different to users when different virtual environments are used. This study investigates the effect of VR head-mounted display (HMD) and desktop computer-facilitated VR on users’ sense of presence (spatial presence and immersion) and task-oriented self-efficacy when exposed to an earthquake education VR system. A quasi-experiment design was used with a sample of 96 university students. The results revealed that the VR system had positive impacts on the users’ earthquake preparedness self-efficacy. Although the experiment group (n = 39) had repeated experiences, as they first used desktop VR followed by VR HMD for the same content, users indicated a higher sense of spatial presence and immersion while using VR HMD than when using desktop VR. In addition, a VR HMD single-group pre- and posttest experimental design was performed with 20 participants, and the differences between the pretest and posttest measurements of earthquake preparedness and self-efficacy were determined to be significant. The qualitative results reveal that the visual stimulus and motion are relevant in composing the VR experience.
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Video game technology is changing from 2D to 3D and virtual reality (VR) graphics. In this research, we analyze how an identical video game that is either played in a 2D, stereoscopic 3D or Head-Mounted-Display (HMD) VR version is experienced by the players, and how brands that are placed in the video game are affected. The game related variables, which are analyzed, are presence, attitude towards the video game and arousal while playing the video game. Brand placement related variables are attitude towards the placed brands and memory (recall and recognition) for the placed brands. 237 players took part in the main study and played a jump’n’run game consisting of three levels. Results indicate that presence was higher in the HMD VR than in the stereoscopic 3D than in the 2D video game, but neither arousal nor attitude towards the video game differed. Memory for the placed brands was lower in the HMD VR than in the stereoscopic 3D than in the 2D video game, whereas attitudes towards the brands were not affected. A post hoc study (n = 53) shows that cognitive load was highest in the VR game, and lowest in the 3D game. Subjects reported higher levels of dizziness and motion-sickness in the VR game than in the 3D and in the 2D game. Limitations are addressed and implications for researchers, marketers and video game developers are outlined.
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Virtual reality has been increasingly used in research on balance rehabilitation because it provides robust and novel sensory experiences in controlled environments. We studied 19 healthy young subjects performing a balance beam walking task in two virtual reality conditions and with unaltered view (15 minutes each) to determine if virtual reality high heights exposure induced stress. We recorded number of steps off the beam, heart rate, electrodermal activity, response time to an auditory cue, and high-density electroencephalography (EEG). We hypothesized that virtual high heights exposure would increase measures of physiological stress compared to unaltered viewing at low heights. We found that the virtual high height condition increased heart rate variability and heart rate frequency power relative to virtual low heights. Virtual reality use resulted in increased number of step-offs, heart rate, electrodermal activity, and response time compared to the unaltered viewing at low heights condition. Our results indicated that virtual reality decreased dynamic balance performance and increased physical and cognitive loading compared to unaltered viewing at low heights. In virtual reality, we found significant decreases in source-localized EEG peak amplitude relative to unaltered viewing in the anterior cingulate, which is considered important in sensing loss of balance. Our findings indicate that virtual reality provides realistic experiences that can induce physiological stress in humans during dynamic balance tasks, but virtual reality use impairs physical and cognitive performance during balance.
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Recent neuropsychological evidence suggest that a key role in linking perceptions and intentions is played by sense of presence. Despite this phenomenon having been studied primarily in the field of virtual reality (conceived as the illusion of being in the virtual space), recent research highlighted that it is a fundamental feature of everyday experience. Specifically, the function of presence as a cognitive process is to locate the Self in a physical space or situation, based on the perceived possibility to act in it; so, the variations in sense of presence allow one to continuously adapt his own action to the external environment. Indeed intentions, as the cognitive antecedents of action, are not static representations of the desired outcomes, but dynamic processes able to adjust their own representational content according to the opportunities/restrictions emerging in the environment. Focusing on the peculiar context of action mediated by interactive technologies, we here propose a theoretical model showing how each level of an intentional hierarchy (future-directed; present directed; and motor intentions) can “interlock” with environmental affordances in order to promote a continuous stream of action and activity.
Article
Background. Virtual reality can provide innovative gaming experiences for present and future game players. However, scientific knowledge is still limited about differences between player’s experience in video games played in immersive modalities and games played in non-immersive modalities (i.e., on a desktop display). Materials and method. Smash Hit was played by 24 young adults in immersive (virtual reality) and non-immersive (desktop) condition. Self-report questionnaires (VAS-A, VAS-HP, VAS-SP, SUS, SUS-II) and psycho-physiological measures (heart rate and skin conductance) were used to assess usability, emotional response and the reported sense of presence. Results. No statistical differences emerged between the immersive and the non-immersive condition regarding usability and performance scores. The general linear model for repeated measures conducted on VAS-A, VAS-HP, VAS-SP scores for the virtual reality condition supported the idea that playing in the immersive display modality was associated with higher self-reported happiness and surprise; analysis on SUS-II revealed that the perceived sense of presence was higher in the virtual reality condition Discussion and conclusion. The proposed study provides evidence that (a) playing a video game in virtual reality was not more difficult than playing through a desktop display; (b) players showed a more intense emotional response, as assessed by self-report questionnaires and with psycho-physiological indexes (heart rate and skin conductance), after playing in virtual reality versus after playing through the desktop display; (c) the perceived sense of presence was found to be greater in virtual reality as opposed to the non-immersive condition.
Conference Paper
This paper describes an experiment to assess the influence of immersion on performance in immersive virtual environments. The task involved Tri-Dimensional Chess, and required subjects to reproduce on a real chess board the state of board learned from a sequence of moves witnessed in a virtual environment. Twenty four subjects were allocated to a factorial design consisting of two levels of immersion (exocentric screen based, and egocentric HMD based), and two kinds of environment (plain and realistic). The results suggest that egocentric subjects performed better than exocentric, and those in the more realistic environment performed better than those in the less realistic environment. Previous knowledge of chess, and amount of virtual practice were also significant, and may be considered as control variables to equalise these factors amongst the subjects. Other things being equal, males remembered the moves better than females, although female performance improved with higher spatial ability test score. The paper also attempts to clarify the relationship between immersion, presence and performance, and locates the experiment within such a theoretical framework.
Article
This commentary briefly reviews the history of virtual reality and its use for psychology research, and clarifies the concepts of immersion and the illusion of presence.