Effects of Depth Perception Cues and Display Types on Presence in the Elderly within a 3D Virtual Store

Abstract

Many of the increasing elderly population have problems performing daily tasks due to restricted mobility, inconvenience, and/or fear of crime. Computers at home with an Internet connection can provide this relatively immobile population with a new channel to access information and services, including the ability to shop. Virtual environments (VEs) technology applied in web shops is its ability to provide a 3D perspective to customers for more real sense on goods and shopping environment. A sense of presence is one of the critical components required by any effective VE. In contrast, when the quality of depth perception cues is poor, whether the cybersickness for the elderly will be easily caused to influence the feeling of presence and performance of goods-searching or not? An experiment addressed associations between presence and cybersickness, and performance of 3D virtual store in the elderly participation with autostereoscopic, stereoscopic and monocular display in good/poor depth perception cues. Results showed that the virtual store via autostereoscopic display with high quality depth perception cues will produce good sense and realism in stereopsis. However, if the depth perception cues are poor, don’t use 3D displays especially stereoscopic display; otherwise the elderly may lose the interest in 3D virtual store because of cybersickness being serious even more than monocular display.