Heart-Rate Variability and Event-Related ECG in Virtual Environments

Beside standard questionnaires physiological measures can be used to describe the state of Presence in a virtual environment. A total of 21 participants explored a virtual bar in a CAVE like system. The experiment was divided into a baseline-, training- and experimental phase. During the experimental phase breaks in presence (BIPS) in form of whiteouts of the virtual environment scenario were induced. The heart rate variability and the event-related ECG were calculated from the acquired ECG data. The study showed that the heart rate variability can be used as parameter that reflects the physiological state of the participant. The event-related ECG showed the effect of the induced BIPS and of speaking avatars on the subjects.

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