Age and gender effects on presence, user experience and usability in virtual environments–first insights

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) is applied in various areas were a highUser Experienceis essential. The sense ofPresencewhile being in VR and its relation toUser Experiencetherefore form crucial aspects, which are yet to be understood. This study aims at quantifying age and gender effects on this connection, involving 57 participants in VR, and performing a geocaching game using a mobile phone as experimental task to answer questionnaires measuringPresence(ITC-SOPI),User Experience(UEQ) andUsability(SUS). A higherPresencewas found for the older participants, but there was no gender difference nor any interaction effects of age and gender. These findings are contractionary to preexisting limited work which has shown higherPresencefor males and decreases ofPresencewith age. Four aspects discriminating this study from literature are discussed as explanations and as a starting point for future investigations into the topic. The results further showed higher ratings in favor ofUser Experienceand lower ratings towardsUsabilityfor the older participants.