Presence In Virtual Environments Research Articles

Finger Tapping as a Behavioral Indicator of Presence in VR

Abstract The sense of spatial presence in virtual environments (VEs) is typically measured using self-report methods after task completion. Recent years have seen efforts to measure presence via physiological markers, with mixed results. Behavioral indicators might better track variations in presence over time. We propose finger tapping as an indicator of changing attentional demands corresponding to low and high presence conditions in VEs. Participants completed “virtual plank” (raised vs lowered to reflect high or low presence) and VR video (90- vs 360-degree) conditions while attempting to tap their fingers at a specified rate. Participants wore a data glove to measure finger taps, and we analyzed variations in the inter-tap intervals. We trained a neural net classifier to distinguish between low and high presence conditions using features derived from the positional finger-tap timeseries (e.g., power spectral density, autocorrelation). The trained network classified test epochs with a success rate of 80% for both video and plank conditions.

A Clustering Approach to Unveil User Similarities in 6-DoF Extended Reality Applications

The advent in our daily life of Extended Reality (XR) technologies, such as Virtual and Augmented Reality, has led to the rise of user-centric systems, offering higher level of interaction and presence in virtual environments. In this context, understanding the actual interactivity of users is still an open challenge and a key step to enabling user-centric system. In this work, our goal is to construct an efficient clustering tool for 6 Degree-of-Freedom (DoF) navigation trajectories by extending the applicability of existing behavioural tool. Specifically, we first compare the navigation in 6-DoF with its 3-DoF counterpart, highlighting the main differences and novelties. Then, we investigate new metrics aimed at better modelling behavioural similarities between users in a 6-DoF system. More concretely, we define and compare 11 similarity metrics which are based on different distance features ( i.e. , user positions in the 3D space, user viewing directions) and distance measurements ( i.e. , Euclidean, Geodesic, angular distance). Our solutions are validated and tested on real navigation paths of users interacting with dynamic volumetric media in both 6-DoF Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality conditions. Results show that metrics based on both user position and viewing direction better perform in detecting user similarity while navigating in a 6-DoF system. Such easy-to-use but robust metrics allow us to answer a fundamental question for user-centric systems: “how do we detect if users look at the same content in 6-DoF?”, opening the gate to new solutions based on users interactivity, such as viewport prediction, live streaming services optimised based on users behaviour but also for user-based quality assessment methods.

Interviewing in the metaverse: The renewed importance of location and embodiment

In this paper, we explore the methodological implications of conducting online qualitative interviews in the metaverse through virtual reality (VR). Technology companies have invested heavily in creating metaverse platforms for bringing people together in digital worlds, yet there is a significant absence of geographical research examining the implications of these spaces. Twenty-six undergraduate students participated in a remote interviewing exercise using the platform AltSpaceVR. Face-to-face interviews were subsequently conducted to gather their reflections about the experience of research interviews in a metaverse. The study highlights the significance of immersion and presence in virtual environments. Participants noted that, in contrast to video interviewing, the immersive nature of the virtual space resembled conventional face-to-face interviews. A sense of immersion and presence enhances the authenticity of the interview experience. There were, however, challenges in interface management and the role of avatars altering the embodied connection with the research subjects. The avatars provided personal representation but introduce complexities in establishing genuine connections and rapport. In our discussion of the implications for VR qualitative research, we emphasise the interplay of immersion, presence and embodiment which can add real value to remote interviewing experience, while reflecting on the technical and physiological limitations.

Correlates of Presence in a Virtual Reality Gamification Environment for Rehabilitation after Musculoskeletal Injury

Abstract Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a powerful option for rehabilitation by providing real-time performance feedback and a safe and customized training environment. This study aimed: (1) to investigate the association between presence in the virtual environment, usability of the system, intrinsic motivation, and immersion in VR gaming designed for rehabilitation after musculoskeletal injury; and (2) to examine the users’ emotional response in terms of pleasure, arousal, and dominance after participating in VR gaming. Thirty-seven individuals aged 23.69 ± 6.98 years participated in five customized VR games designed to provide a complete rehabilitation session after a musculoskeletal injury. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients and multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the relationship between presence in virtual environments and immersive tendencies, the usability of the system, and intrinsic motivation. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was conducted to evaluate the impact of participation in VR gaming on participants’ presence in virtual environments. Significant correlations were found between presence and immersive tendencies (r = −.40, p = .017), intrinsic motivation (r = .42, p = .013), and usability of the system (r = .64, p < .001). The linear regression model explained 59% of the total variance in the presence of virtual environments. There was a statistically significant increase in the pleasure scores from the beginning to the end of the session. Our results indicate that VR may be useful in increasing adherence to treatment to recover from musculoskeletal injuries.

METAVERSE EXPERIENCE: MEASURING PRESENCE IN VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF GASTRONOMY

The aim of this study is to measure the sense of presence in virtual environments that can provide a different gastronomic experience in the metaverse by using new technologies. In the scope of the study, a virtual restaurant was created via digital platforms as a virtual environment design for the metaverse experience and it was experienced by the participants with the help of virtual reality glasses. The universe of the study consists of instructors involved in the educational and training activities of the General Directorate of Special Education and Guidance Services. It was applied face-to- face with thirteen of the trainers who were invited to Ankara within the scope of the "Material and Content Development for the Digital Game Project in Special Education " study carried out on May 23-27, 2022. After the practice, the “Sense of Presence Scale” was applied to the participants. In addition, an interview consisting of three items was conducted in order to obtain detailed information about the experiences and opinions of the participants. The results of the study indicated that the participants were inclined to prefer virtual restaurants in their daily lives and they believed that the communication established in the metaverse environment was healthy. It is recommended that the study be carried out under conditions that can provide a more realistic experience with the support of technical infrastructure. It is believed that the study will contribute to businesses and the field that aim to offer different services in the gastronomy sector.

Effects of congruity on the state of user presence in virtual environments: Results from a breaching experiment

The present study investigates how the user state of presence is affected by contingencies in the design of virtual environments. The theoretical framework of congruity is herein explicated, which builds upon the concept of plausibility illusion as one of the essential prerequisites for presence, and which systematically explains and predicts presence in terms of alignment between schemata in the user’s memory and stimuli presented within the virtual environment. Three dimensions of congruity are explicated and discussed: sensory, environmental, and thematic. A series of breaching experiments were conducted in a virtual environment testing the effects of each dimension of incongruity on presence. These experiments were inconclusive regarding the effects of sensory and environmental congruity; however, the results strongly suggest that the state of presence is contingent upon thematic congruity in virtual environments. This finding has theoretical significance insofar as it points towards the necessity of considering genre and cultural context in predicting user states in virtual environments. The study also has practical relevance to designers and developers of content for virtual reality in that it identifies a critical psychological consideration for the user experience that is absent from existing models.

MÜZİK ÜRETİMİNDE YENİ BİR ALAN: METAVERSE KONSERLERİ

Music is an important communicative power for humanity and the power of music is advancing and getting stronger together with the mass media that develops in parallel with the technological developments. The physical concert structure of music, which only the immediate environment can access, first turned into an imaginary music field with the radios. Later, these imaginary musical areas became shows where auditory activities were visualized with the spread of television. Visual shows, on the other hand, have been moved to higher levels in digital media, and finally, they are transformed into virtual reality by passing to virtual environments that are included with avatars. This whole process transforms the one-way communication style of music into two-way communication. Music performances, which turned into shows held in virtual spaces, completed the biggest step towards reaching millions with metaverse concerts, and succeeded in reviving the music market, which had necessarily stagnated during the pandemic period. Metaverse concerts, which became widespread in this period, transform the audience, who attend the concerts with their avatars, from the position of passive concert listeners to an audience profile that begins to take an active role in concerts and shows. Audiences, who become active through their avatars, begin to have a direct presence in virtual environments, with their new position flying, floating, changing costumes and shape-shifting, directing their song selections, accompanying and dancing songs by interacting directly with singer avatars. In this study, the freedom environment and comfort of movement provided by metaverse environments will be emphasized. Examples of metaverse concerts that took place in recent years and the artist-audience interaction that took place in these concerts will be given.

Historical time machines: Experimentally investigating potentials and impacts of immersion in historical VR on history education and morality.

Virtual reality (VR) is known for its immersive characteristics that enable users the experience of presence in virtual environments. However, the experience of presence in emotionally charged historical VR is controversially discussed as it might decrease the critical, cognitive reflection of the historical content and lead to strong emotional reactions. Therefore, we examined the effects of the VR content’s emotionality on presence and emotional response. Following the transportation-imagery model and the model of intuitive morality and exemplars, we investigated the effects of presence and emotional response on the recipients’ enjoyment, historical interest, beliefs, awareness, and moral reasoning. Moreover, we tested whether additional information after watching historical VR can support the critical reflection of the historical content. Taking different modalities into account, we conducted two experiments following a 2 (emotionality of the content) × 2 (reception of additional information)-between-subjects design in which participants were exposed to historical VR via a media player (Experiment 1, N = 493) or VR glasses (Experiment 2, N = 99). In line with the assumptions, the recipients’ experience of presence and emotional response supported historical interest, enjoyment, and affected moral reasoning. Moreover, findings indicated that additional material promotes the critical reflection of historical VR.

Supplemental Material for Historical time machines: Experimentally investigating potentials and impacts of immersion in historical VR on history education and morality.

Virtual reality (VR) is known for its immersive characteristics that enable users the experience of presence in virtual environments. However, the experience of presence in emotionally charged historical VR is controversially discussed as it might decrease the critical, cognitive reflection of the historical content and lead to strong emotional reactions. Therefore, we examined the effects of the VR content’s emotionality on presence and emotional response. Following the transportation-imagery model and the model of intuitive morality and exemplars, we investigated the effects of presence and emotional response on the recipients’ enjoyment, historical interest, beliefs, awareness, and moral reasoning. Moreover, we tested whether additional information after watching historical VR can support the critical reflection of the historical content. Taking different modalities into account, we conducted two experiments following a 2 (emotionality of the content) × 2 (reception of additional information)-between-subjects design in which participants were exposed to historical VR via a media player (Experiment 1, N = 493) or VR glasses (Experiment 2, N = 99). In line with the assumptions, the recipients’ experience of presence and emotional response supported historical interest, enjoyment, and affected moral reasoning. Moreover, findings indicated that additional material promotes the critical reflection of historical VR.

Investigating the relationship between three-dimensional perception and presence in virtual reality-reconstructed architecture

Identifying and characterizing the factors that affect presence in virtual environments has been acknowledged as a critical step to improving Virtual Reality (VR) applications in the built environment domain. In the search to identify those factors, the research objective was to test whether three-dimensional perception affects presence in virtual environments. A controlled within-group experiment utilizing perception and presence questionnaires was conducted, followed by data analysis, to test the hypothesized unidirectional association between three-dimensional perception and presence in two different virtual environments (non-immersive and immersive). Results indicate no association in either of the systems studied, contrary to the assumption of many scholars in the field but in line with recent studies on the topic. Consequently, VR applications in architectural design may not necessarily need to incorporate advanced stereoscopic visualization techniques to deliver highly immersive experiences, which may be achieved by addressing factors other than depth realism. As findings suggest that the levels of presence experienced by users are not subject to the display mode of a 3D model (whether immersive or non-immersive display), it may still be possible for professionals involved in the review of 3D models (e.g., designers, contractors, clients) to experience high levels of presence through non-stereoscopic VR systems provided that other presence-promoting factors are included.

Green and Pleasant Lands: The Affective and Cerebral Hemodynamic Effects of Presence in Virtual Environments During Exercise.

Pleasant exercise experiences increase the likelihood of exercise adherence, and innovative strategies to promote consistently pleasant exercise experiences are needed. In this study we compared a novel nature-based virtual reality environment, a nature-based 360° video, and a control condition to test the hypothesis that greater presence in virtual space would promote positive affective experiences during exercise. Moreover, we assessed prefrontal cerebral hemodynamics using near infrared spectroscopy to explore possible neural underpinnings of dissociative strategies during exercise. Twelve participants (M = 26.2, SD = 7.7years; M BMI = 25.5, SD = 5.2kg/m2) completed a maximal aerobic test and three exercise conditions (Control, Virtual Reality [VR], and 360° video). The two experimental conditions differed in terms of the participants' sense of presence (VR eliciting greatest presence), and all conditions utilized similar exercise intensity. The VR condition setting was a virtual mountain forest trail, and the 360° video was of a forest road. The 360° video was perceived as the most distracting (p = .023, d = 1.07), pleasant (p = .007, d = .75), and enjoyable (p = .029; d = .82) condition. ΔHbDiff data indicated that the control condition caused the greatest prefrontal brain activation (p = .008, d = .84). Presence was not a salient factor in distracting participants from bodily sensations during exercise, but immersion in a stimulus was. These results provide support for using head-mounted displays during exercise as a strategy to increase pleasure, with practical implications for practitioners, researchers, and individuals.

Study protocol-Evoked craving in high-dose benzodiazepine users.

Benzodiazepine (BDZ) abuse, especially concerning high doses of BDZs, is an impairing substance use disorder (SUD) that is often difficult to treat. Craving and cue reactivity (CR) are two important phenomena that have a prominent role in maintaining addiction and triggering relapses in BDZ abuse; nevertheless, they have rarely been addressed in scientific literature. The present study aims to fill these gaps by implementing a highly innovative virtual reality (VR) design to assess the impact of substance-related environmental cues on BDZ craving, as well as their influence on patients’ affective states. Therefore, on one hand, this research will contribute to the assessment of VR feasibility in the study of these phenomena, and, on the other, it will help disentangle the role that CR and craving have on mood and attention, which are equally important factors to consider when treating SUDs. We will recruit a healthy control group and a patient group comprising people seeking treatment for BDZ detoxification. The experimental design will consist of the presentation of three VR scenarios, one neutral, one BDZ-related but without BDZ cues, and another with BDZ cues. The craving will be measured through a virtual analog scale (VAS); the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and Alcohol Attention Scale (AAS) questionnaires in a modified version will also be administered. We will additionally control for VR-induced feelings of sickness by administering the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), and the Presence Questionnaire (PQ) will be used to investigate participants’ sense of presence in virtual environments. We expect patients to exhibit higher levels of craving, and that the craving will be higher after exposure to a cue-related virtual environment as compared to a neutral scenario.

A Pilot Study Exploring Age Differences in Presence, Workload, and Cybersickness in the Experience of Immersive Virtual Reality Environments

Research is often focused on understanding barriers to the use and adoption of technology to support older adults’ (65+) instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), such as communication, banking, and transportation. Less attention is paid to technology to support enhanced activities of daily living (EADLs), activities that enrich our daily lives, even though they have the potential to improve wellbeing, promote physical and emotional health, and reduce stress. Here, we explored how older adults interacted with commercial virtual reality (VR) to investigate the feasibility of using VR as an EADL support system. Older adults navigated different VR environments, including environments that were meditation, exploration, and game-oriented. Of particular interest was whether older adults (N = 20) psychologically experienced differing degrees of presence within virtual environments compared to younger adults (N = 20), and potential barriers to use as assessed by measures of workload and system usability. Given previously observed age-related differences in cybersickness, this was also assessed as a potential barrier. Compared to younger adults, older adults expressed a greater sense of presence in virtual environments, with nonsignificant differences in perceived workload and usability according to most measures. Contrary to expectations, older adults reported significantly less cybersickness compared to younger adults. Results suggest that VR is a promising means to support older adults’ EADLs.

Measuring Presence in Virtual Environments: A Survey

The effectiveness of a virtual reality experience is strongly affected by the sense of presence of the users involved. This article reviews the different definitions of presence and the main proposed methods to measure it through the analysis of 1,214 papers published in the past 30 years. From the analysis of 239 user studies, we found that 85.8% used subjective measures, 11.7% used a combination of subjective and objective measures, while 2.5% used only objective measures. We also identified, from the studies reviewed, 29 main factors to evoke presence in virtual environments, grouped into four categories: Engagement, Personal Characteristics, Interaction Fidelity, and Display Fidelity.

Effects of display lag on vection and presence in the Oculus Rift HMD

Head-mounted display (HMD)-based virtual reality (VR) is ideally suited for presence and generating compelling visual experiences of self-motion, but users can suffer from side effects associated with head-to-display lag. We used the Oculus Rift HMD (consumer release – CV1) to simulate forward self-motion in depth. Observers made continuous yaw head movements at approximately 0.5 Hz or 1.0 Hz while viewing these self-motion simulations. We examined the perceptual effects of increasing the display lag, by adding lag to the baseline lag of the system (estimated to be approximately 5.3 ms or 0.5 frames per second). We found that increasing the head-to-display lag up to 212 ms reduced the presence and the strength of vection. In addition, faster (1.0 Hz) head oscillations were found to generate weaker presence and vection in the virtual environment than the slower (0.5 Hz) head oscillations. We also found that a positive correlation between vection and presence (found previously) persists across a wide range of head-to-display lags, and, increasing lag from a very low baseline level still impaired both experiences. Both vection and presence in virtual environments can therefore be impaired by either increasing head-display lag or making more rapid angular head movements.

Distributed Cognition and the Experience of Presence in the Mars Exploration Rover Mission.

Although research on presence in virtual environments has increased in the last few decades due to the rise of immersive technologies, it has not examined how it is achieved in distributed cognitive systems. To this end, we examine the sense of presence on the Martian landscape experienced by scientific team members in the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission (2004–2018). How this was achieved is not obvious because the sensorimotor coupling that typically underlies presence in mundane situations was absent. Nonetheless, we argue that the Three-Level model can provide a framework for exploring how presence was achieved. This account distinguishes between proto-presence, core-presence, and extended-presence, each level dependent on being able to respond effectively to affordances at a particular level of abstraction, operating at different timescales. We maintain that scientists' sense of presence on Mars involved core-presence and extended-presence rather than proto-presence. Extended-presence involved successfully establishing distal intentions (D-intentions) during strategic planning, i.e., long term conceptual goals. Core-presence involved successfully enacting proximal intentions (P-intentions) during tactical planning by carrying out specific actions on a particular target, abstracting away from sensorimotor details. This was made possible by team members “becoming the rover,” which enhanced their ability to identify relevant affordances revealed through images. We argue, however, that because Mars exploration is a collective activity involving shared agency by a distributed cognitive system, the experience of presence was a collective presence of the team through the rover.

Does what we dream feel present? Two varieties of presence and implications for measuring presence in VR

What’s presented in our normal waking perceptual visual experiences feels present to us, while what we “see” in pictures and imagine does not. What about dreams? Does what we “see” in a dream feel present? Jennifer Windt has argued for an affirmative answer, for all dreams. But the dreams which flow from the brain’s registration of myoclonic twitches (body-driven dreams) present a challenge to this answer. During these dreams (so I argue) motion-guiding vision is shut off, and, as Mohan Matthen has argued, motion-guiding vision seems to be a key mechanism underlying the feeling of presence. I propose that the feeling of presence in fact involves two components: the feeling of immersion, and the feeling of availability for action. I suggest that only the feeling of availability for action derives from motion-guiding vision, and, hence, hypothesize that body-driven dreams lack this component to the feeling of presence (while still having the feeling of immersion). Finally, the distinction between these two varieties of presence has implications for measures of presence in virtual environments, as these measures can diverge over which of the two varieties they track.

Exploring the Relative Effects of Body Position and Spatial Cognition on Presence When Playing Virtual Reality Games

ABSTRACT Previous research has suggested that cognitive functions such as execution, attention, memory, and perception differ when body position changes. However, the influence of body position on these cognitive functions is still not fully understood. In particular, little is known about how physical self-positioning may affect the cognitive process of perceptual responses in a virtual environment (VE). In this regard, we compared three body positions (standing, sitting, and half-sitting) in two types of virtual reality (VR) game with different degrees of freedom in navigation (finite and infinite) to explore the association between body position and the sense of presence in VEs. A two-way ANOVA yielded a main effect for body position, with the sense of presence significantly higher for a standing position than for a half-sitting position. However, there was no main effect for game type, nor was there an interaction between body position and game type. In addition, a one-way ANOVA revealed that, for the game with infinite navigation, participants in a standing position felt stronger presence than those who were sitting or half-sitting, whereas no significant difference was found between the sitting and half-sitting positions. In contrast, there was no statistical difference between the three body positions when playing the game with finite navigation. Taken together, it can be speculated that the cognitive effects of body position on presence are correlated with the degree of freedom in navigation in a VE.

Assessing presence in virtual environments: adaptation of the psychometric properties of the Presence Questionnaire to the Portuguese populations

ABSTRACT Virtual Reality applications have the goal of transporting their users to a given virtual environment (VE). Thus, Presence is a consensual metric for evaluating the VEs' effectiveness. The present study adapts the Presence Questionnaire (PQ) for the Portuguese-speaking population, maintaining the validity of the contents and concepts, to ascertain the psychometric properties of the instrument.The adaptation to Portuguese was achieved through the standard adaptation process of translation and back-translation process. The sample consisted of 451 individuals (268 males and 183 females). Factor reliability ranged from 0.63 to 0.86. Confirmatory factor analysis produced a theoretical model of 21 items distributed among seven factors, where the covariance between some residual item errors was established. The fit indices obtained were , GFI , CFI , RMSEA , P [RMSEA ], MECVI . Results obtained allowed us to consider that the adapted Portuguese version of the PQ, with 21 items, forms a robust and valid questionnaire whose use is recommended to evaluate Presence in virtual reality research programmes, provided that they use samples of the Portuguese language (Europe).

The Role of Plausibility in the Experience of Spatial Presence in Virtual Environments

In the present study, we examine the effect of plausibility violations in a virtual environment (VE) on spatial presence. After reviewing research on the association between plausibility and spatial presence, we present a dual-systems approach to understanding the effect of plausibility (or violations thereof) on spatial presence. We conceptualize the feeling of being present in a VE as a lower-order cognitive process. Perceptions of plausibility violations might represent higher-order cognitive processes that could interfere with spatial presence. We present data from an experimental study in which we manipulated the external consistency (i.e., the plausibility) of the VE, cognitive load (to interfere with higher-order cognitive processes), and immersion to examine its effect on spatial presence. Results show that immersion was the most important factor driving the presence experience. We found no difference between low and high plausibility in spatial presence. Subsequent equivalence tests showed that the group exposed to the implausible VE did not feel less present than the group exposed to the plausible VE. We discuss the findings of our studies in the light of our theoretical considerations and previous research.