The effects of virtual reality immersion on level of subject interest: Comparing desktop and head-mounted display conditions
Open Access
Author:
Kutz, Nathan F
Area of Honors:
Psychology
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Rick R Jacobs, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Richard Alan Carlson, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Virtual Reality immersion Head-Mounted Display
Abstract:
Over the past year, the popularity of Virtual Reality (VR) has exploded. The VR industry netted over 7 billion dollars in 2013, which was a 4 billion dollar increase from 2012 (Plunkett, 2014). Google and Facebook each invested over 2 billion in Virtual reality in 2013 (Gelles, 2014). New Head-Mounted Display (HMD) systems, which provide realistic VR experiences, are lightweight, portable, and user-friendly, dropping in cost the past few years (Cakmakci, 2006; Rolland, 2000). Multiple studies have concluded specific benefits of HMD VR technology including perceptions of realism, involvement of participants, and learning outcomes (Abulrub , 2013; Bayarri, 1996; Fast, 2004; Li, 2005; Santos, 2009; Sielhorst, 2004;Stone, 2013). The current study investigated the effects of HMD systems on participant’s interest. Change in participant interest and immersion were measured in the current study. Analyses revealed that immersion through VR did not did not change interest level significantly (mean=5.15, SD= 1.084, p=.73). However, the results showed that HMD systems were significantly more immersive than a desktop condition (mean=3.83, SD= 1.46, p=.04).
