Exploring the design space for multi-sensory heart rate feedback in immersive virtual reality

Virtual Reality (VR) interfaces have been shown to be able to trigger different emotions in users. However, earlier VR interfaces did not provide users with their own heart rate feedback and the effect of such a feedback on overall experience has not been investigated. In this research, we investigated whether providing heart rate feedback enhanced the participant's experience of using VR and we explored the design space of different types of multi-sensory heart rate representations. Through a within-subjects study, and using subjective measurements, we found that participants enjoyed seeing their heart rate feedback when experiencing VR environments. From the different types of heart-rate representations, audio-haptic feedback was the most preferred while visual feedback was reported as being distracting. We report on the implications of this for designing VR experiences and directions for future research1.

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