Frontiers in virtual reality 

About: Frontiers in virtual reality is an academic journal published by Frontiers Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Computer science & Virtual reality. It has an ISSN identifier of 2673-4192. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 267 publications have been published receiving 425 citations.

A Separate Reality: An Update on Place Illusion and Plausibility in Virtual Reality

Abstract: We review the concept of presence in virtual reality, normally thought of as the sense of “being there” in the virtual world. We argued in a 2009 paper that presence consists of two orthogonal illusions that we refer to as Place Illusion (PI, the illusion of being in the place depicted by the VR) and Plausibility (Psi, the illusion that the virtual situations and events are really happening). Both are with the proviso that the participant in the virtual reality knows for sure that these are illusions. Presence (PI and Psi) together with the illusion of ownership over the virtual body that self-represents the participant, are the three key illusions of virtual reality. Copresence, togetherness with others in the virtual world, can be a consequence in the context of interaction between remotely located participants in the same shared virtual environments, or between participants and virtual humans. We then review several different methods of measuring presence: questionnaires, physiological and behavioural measures, breaks in presence, and a psychophysics method based on transitions between different system configurations. Presence is not the only way to assess the responses of people to virtual reality experiences, and we present methods that rely solely on participant preferences, including the use of sentiment analysis that allows participants to express their experience in their own words rather than be required to adopt the terminology and concepts of researchers. We discuss several open questions and controversies that exist in this field, providing an update to the 2009 paper, in particular with respect to models of Plausibility. We argue that Plausibility is the most interesting and complex illusion to understand and is worthy of significant more research. Regarding measurement we conclude that the ideal method would be a combination of a psychophysical method and qualitative methods including sentiment analysis.

Opportunities and Challenges of Virtual Reality in Healthcare – A Domain Experts Inquiry

Abstract: In recent years, the applications and accessibility of Virtual Reality (VR) for the healthcare sector have continued to grow. However, so far, most VR applications are only relevant in research settings. Information about what healthcare professionals would need to independently integrate VR applications into their daily working routines is missing. The actual needs and concerns of the people who work in the healthcare sector are often disregarded in the development of VR applications, even though they are the ones who are supposed to use them in practice. By means of this study, we systematically involve health professionals in the development process of VR applications. In particular, we conducted an online survey with 102 healthcare professionals based on a video prototype which demonstrates a software platform that allows them to create and utilise VR experiences on their own. For this study, we adapted and extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The survey focused on the perceived usefulness and the ease of use of such a platform, as well as the attitude and ethical concerns the users might have. The results show a generally positive attitude toward such a software platform. The users can imagine various use cases in different health domains. However, the perceived usefulness is tied to the actual ease of use of the platform and sufficient support for learning and working with the platform. In the discussion, we explain how these results can be generalized to facilitate the integration of VR in healthcare practice.

Distance Perception in the Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2

Abstract: Distances in virtual environments (VEs) viewed on a head-mounted display (HMD) are typically underperceived relative to the intended distance. This paper presents an experiment comparing perceived egocentric distance in a real environment with that in a matched VE presented in the Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2. Participants made verbal judgments and blind walking judgments to an object on the ground. Both the Quest and Quest 2 produced underperception. Verbal judgments in the VE were 82% and 75% of the object distance, in contrast with real world judgments that were 94% of the object distance. Blind walking judgments were 68% and 70% of object distance in the Quest and Quest 2, respectively, compared to 88% in the real world. This project shows that significant underperception of distance persists even in modern HMDs.

Congruence and Plausibility, Not Presence: Pivotal Conditions for XR Experiences and Effects, a Novel Approach

Abstract: Presence often is considered the most important quale describing the subjective feeling of being in a computer-generated and/or computer-mediated virtual environment. The identification and separation of orthogonal presence components, i.e., the place illusion and the plausibility illusion, has been an accepted theoretical model describing Virtual Reality (VR) experiences for some time. This perspective article challenges this presence-oriented VR theory. First, we argue that a place illusion cannot be the major construct to describe the much wider scope of Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality (VR, AR, MR: or XR for short). Second, we argue that there is no plausibility illusion but merely plausibility, and we derive the place illusion caused by congruent and plausible generation of spatial cues, and similarly for all the current model's so-defined illusions. Finally, we propose congruence and plausibility to become the central essential conditions in a novel theoretical model describing XR experiences and effects.

Measuring Attentional Distraction in Children With ADHD Using Virtual Reality Technology With Eye-Tracking

Abstract: Objective: Distractions inordinately impair attention in children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) but examining this behavior under real-life conditions poses a challenge for researchers and clinicians. Virtual reality (VR) technologies may mitigate the limitations of traditional laboratory methods by providing a more ecologically relevant experience. The use of eye-tracking measures to assess attentional functioning in a VR context in ADHD is novel. In this proof of principle project, we evaluate the temporal dynamics of distraction via eye-tracking measures in a VR classroom setting with 20 children diagnosed with ADHD between 8 and 12 years of age. Method: We recorded continuous eye movements while participants performed math, Stroop, and continuous performance test (CPT) tasks with a series of “real-world” classroom distractors presented. We analyzed the impact of the distractors on rates of on-task performance and on-task, eye-gaze (i.e., looking at a classroom whiteboard) versus off-task eye-gaze (i.e., looking away from the whiteboard). Results: We found that while children did not always look at distractors themselves for long periods of time, the presence of a distractor disrupted on-task gaze at task-relevant whiteboard stimuli and lowered rates of task performance. This suggests that children with attention deficits may have a hard time returning to tasks once those tasks are interrupted, even if the distractor itself does not hold attention. Eye-tracking measures within the VR context can reveal rich information about attentional disruption. Conclusions: Leveraging virtual reality technology in combination with eye-tracking measures is well-suited to advance the understanding of mechanisms underlying attentional impairment in naturalistic settings. Assessment within these immersive and well-controlled simulated environments provides new options for increasing our understanding of distractibility and its potential impact on the development of interventions for children with ADHD.