A Study on the Presence of Immersive User Interface in Collaborative Virtual Environments Application

Abstract

This study proposes a collaboration-based interaction as a new method for providing an improved presence and a satisfying experience to various head-mounted display (HMD) users utilized in immersive virtual reality (IVR), and analyzes the experiences (improved presence, satisfying enjoyment, and social interaction) of applying collaboration to user interfaces. The key objective of the proposed interaction is to provide an environment where HMD users are able to collaborate with each other, based on their differentiated roles and behaviors. To this end, a collaboration-based interaction structured in three parts was designed, including a synchronization procedure and a communication interface that enable users to swiftly execute common goals with precision, based on immersive interactions that allow users to directly exchange information and provide feedback with their hands and feet. Moreover, experimental VR applications were built to systematically analyze the improved presence, enjoyment, and social interaction experienced by users through collaboration. Finally, by conducting a survey on the participants of the experiment, this study confirmed that the proposed interface indeed provided users with an improved presence and a satisfying experience, based on collaboration.