Influence of UI Complexity and Positioning on User Experience During VR Exergames

In past years, as virtual reality (VR) technology is extensively developing, more and more people are using it in different fields. One of the fast developing fields in VR are exergames, a combination of physical exercise and game. With a goal to engage people in physical activity, VR exergames should look and feel good for users. Therefore, user interface (UI) in VR is important and has to be built in a way to enhance user experience. In this paper, ergometer is used together with VR rowing environment as VR exergame for a study aiming to explore possibilities of UI in VR. Accordingly, different metrics commonly used to quantify rowing action (e.g, speed and distance) were visualized. The visualizations that were created had different positioning (closer or further away from the player) and different level of complexity (more or less metrics shown as only numbers or in a gamified design). Participants (N = 27) during experiment for this study rowed four times in different conditions depending were metrics of the game were shown: 1) as a cockpit at the front of the rowing e.g, with gamified visualization of metrics; 2) as a coach boat that follows the player with gamified visualization of metrics on a screen; 3) as a cockpit at the front of the rowing e.g, with digital visualization of metrics; 4) as a coach boat that follows the player with digital visualization of metrics on a screen. Results show that level of UI complexity has a significant influence on readability, while positioning of UI elements significantly influences users’ perception of support from system. Furthermore, participants preferred the opposite level of complexity depending on the position where metrics were shown.