User Experience Evaluation in Shared Interactive Virtual Reality

Bibliographic Data

ID22003943
AuthorsShady Guertin-Lahoud (0000-0001-6708-4120, HEC Montréal, corresponding author), Constantinos K Coursaris (0000-0001-9301-3289, HEC Montréal, corresponding author), Sylvain Sénécal (0000-0002-5264-4073, HEC Montréal), Pierre‐Majorique Léger (0000-0002-7887-8521, HEC Montréal)
Year2023
Volume26
Issue4
Pages263-272
Publication date2023-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2152-2715 • E-ISSN: 2152-2723
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1089/cyber.2022.0261
PMID37071640
OpenAlexW4366239702
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited35

Virtual reality (VR) has served the entertainment industry all the way to world-leading museums in delivering engaging experiences through multisensory virtual environments (VEs). Today, the rise of the Metaverse fuels a growing interest in leveraging this technology, bringing along an emerging need to better understand the way different dimensions of VEs, namely social and interactive, impact overall user experience (UX). This between-subject exploratory field study investigates differences in the perceived and lived experience of 28 participants engaging, either individually or in dyads, in a VR experience comprising different levels of interactivity, i.e., passive or active. A mixed methods approach combining conventional UX measures, i.e., psychometric surveys and user interviews, as well as psychophysiological measures, i.e., wearable bio- and motion sensors, allowed for a comprehensive assessment of users' immersive and affective experiences. Results pertaining to the social dimension of the experience reveal that shared VR elicits significantly more positive affect, whereas presence, immersion, flow, and state anxiety are unaffected by the copresence of a real-world partner. Results pertaining to the interactive dimension of the experience suggest that the interactivity afforded by the VE moderates the effect of copresence on users' adaptive immersion and arousal. These results support that VR can be shared with a real-world partner not only without hindering the immersive experience, but also by enhancing positive affect. Hence, in addition to offering methodological directions for future VR field research, this study provides interesting practical insights into guiding VR developers toward optimal multiuser virtual environments

Entertainment · Exploratory research · Human–computer interaction · Interactivity · Multimedia · User experience design · Virtual reality · Wearable computer · Communication · Computer Science · Image and Video Quality Assessment · Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies · Psychology · Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts

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