TY - GEN
T1 - The Effects of Avatar and Environment Design on Embodiment, Presence, Activation, and Task Load in a Virtual Reality Exercise Application
AU - Bartl, Andrea
AU - Merz, Christian
AU - Roth, Daniel
AU - Latoschik, Marc Erich
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 IEEE.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - The development of embodied Virtual Reality (VR) systems involves multiple central design choices. These design choices affect the user perception and therefore require thorough consideration. This article reports on two user studies investigating the influence of common design choices on relevant intermediate factors (sense of embodiment, presence, motivation, activation, and task load) in a VR application for physical exercises. The first study manipulated the avatar fidelity (abstract, partial body vs. anthropomorphic, full-body) and the environment (with vs. without mirror). The second study manipulated the avatar type (healthy vs. injured) and the environment type (beach vs. hospital) and, hence, the avatar-environment congruence. The full-body avatar significantly increased the sense of embodiment and decreased mental demand. Interestingly, the mirror did not influence the dependent variables. The injured avatar significantly increased the temporal demand. The beach environment significantly reduced the tense activation. On the beach, participants felt more present in the incongruent condition embodying the injured avatar.
AB - The development of embodied Virtual Reality (VR) systems involves multiple central design choices. These design choices affect the user perception and therefore require thorough consideration. This article reports on two user studies investigating the influence of common design choices on relevant intermediate factors (sense of embodiment, presence, motivation, activation, and task load) in a VR application for physical exercises. The first study manipulated the avatar fidelity (abstract, partial body vs. anthropomorphic, full-body) and the environment (with vs. without mirror). The second study manipulated the avatar type (healthy vs. injured) and the environment type (beach vs. hospital) and, hence, the avatar-environment congruence. The full-body avatar significantly increased the sense of embodiment and decreased mental demand. Interestingly, the mirror did not influence the dependent variables. The injured avatar significantly increased the temporal demand. The beach environment significantly reduced the tense activation. On the beach, participants felt more present in the incongruent condition embodying the injured avatar.
KW - Empirical studies in HCI
KW - Human-centered computing
KW - User studies
KW - Virtual reality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85145499882&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ISMAR55827.2022.00041
DO - 10.1109/ISMAR55827.2022.00041
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85145499882
T3 - Proceedings - 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, ISMAR 2022
SP - 260
EP - 269
BT - Proceedings - 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, ISMAR 2022
A2 - Duh, Henry
A2 - Williams, Ian
A2 - Grubert, Jens
A2 - Jones, J. Adam
A2 - Zheng, Jianmin
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 21st IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, ISMAR 2022
Y2 - 17 October 2022 through 21 October 2022
ER -