Effects of Voluntary Heart Rate Control on User Engagement in Virtual Reality

Samory Houzangbe (1) , Olivier Christmann (1) , Geoffrey Gorisse (1) , Simon Richir (1)

1 LAMPA - Laboratoire Angevin de Mécanique, Procédés et InnovAtion

The usage of biofeedback in Virtual Reality (VR) is becoming more and more important in providing fully immersive experiences. With the rapid evolution of physiological monitoring technologies it is important to study how different modalities of biofeedback can alter user experience. While previous studies use biofeedback as an additional interaction mechanic. We created a protocol to assess heart rate control competency and used the results of said protocol to immerse our participants in a VR experience where the biofeedback mechanics are mandatory to complete a game. We observed consistent results between our competency scale and the participants’ mastery of the biofeedback game mechanic in the VR experience. We also found that the biofeedback mechanic has a significant impact on engagement.

Mots clés: Virtual Reality; Biofeedback; Engagement; User Study

Domaines: Sciences de l'information et de la communication

Samory Houzangbe, Olivier Christmann, Geoffrey Gorisse, Simon Richir. Effects of Voluntary Heart Rate Control on User Engagement in Virtual Reality. 2019 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), Mar 2019, Osaka, Japan. pp.2, ⟨10.1109/VR.2019.8797759⟩. ⟨hal-02303892⟩