An 'In the Wild' Experiment on Presence and Embodiment using Consumer Virtual Reality Equipment

作者：Steed Anthony^*; Friston Sebastian^*; Lopez Maria Murcia^*; Drummond Jason^*; Pan Ye^*; Swapp David^*

来源：IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2016, 22(4): 1406-1414.

DOI：10.1109/TVCG.2016.2518135

• virtual reality
• consumer equipment
• head-mounted display
• presence
• embodiment
• self-avatar

Consumer virtual reality systems are now becoming widely available. We report on a study on presence and embodiment within virtual reality that was conducted in the wild', in that data was collected from devices owned by consumers in uncontrolled settings, not in a traditional laboratory setting. Users of Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard devices were invited by web pages and email invitation to download and run an app that presented a scenario where the participant would sit in a bar watching a singer. Each participant saw one of eight variations of the scenario: with or without a self-avatar; singer inviting the participant to tap along or not; singer looking at the participant or not. Despite the uncontrolled situation of the experiment, results from an in-app questionnaire showed tentative evidence that a self-avatar had a positive effect on self-report of presence and embodiment, and that the singer inviting the participant to tap along had a negative effect on self-report of embodiment. We discuss the limitations of the study and the platforms, and the potential for future open virtual reality experiments.

• 出版日期2016-4