Experiencing Presence in a Virtual Reality Music Video

As some music artists begin to explore virtual reality (VR) as a medium for their music videos, it was found challenging to direct people’s attention using traditional film techniques. These must, therefore, be innovative or alternative methods established. To evaluate the effectiveness of attention cues and their correlation of eliciting a sense of presence, a music video was created in a virtual environment (VE). Two design iterations were completed. The first investigated the size, colour, and movement pattern of the visual cues and the second examined if the cue was perceived as a part of the virtual world. It was found that the cue should have a vibrant yet not necessarily contrasting colour, depending on the background (here pink on purple), and have animate motion, giving a more coherent perception the world. This study investigated the user’s level of presence experiencing the music video in VR, compared to a smartphone. The results demonstrate that the feeling of presence in the VR is significantly higher.