An Exploratory Analysis of Interactive VR-Based Framework for Multi-Componential Analysis of Emotion

Abstract

In this work, we present a preliminary analysis on emotion formation using a full Component Process Model (CPM), which considers emotional experience as multi-processes with synchronized changes across five main components: Appraisal, Motivation, Physiology, Expression and Feeling. We propose an empirical data-driven setup for generating an affective dataset using interactive Virtual Reality (VR) games with objective and subjective measures. We conducted a pilot study with several participants who played 28 VR games. The result confirms the suitability of the proposed experimental setup for investigating emotional experience. VR games were able to trigger diverse emotions, as evidenced by the collected self-reports. Using a CPM-based survey, we found that VR games could activate emotional experience based on cognitive appraisal, motivation, physiology, and facial expressions. We showed that more than two dimensions (expressions, physiology, novelty, valence, motivation, agency, arousal) are required to define the emotional experience. We also analyzed the relationship between discrete emotions and CPM components. These preliminary results suggest that CPM components may have different levels of involvement depending on the experienced emotion.