The Validity of Presence as a Reliable Human Performance Metric in Immersive Environments

Advances in interactive media technologies have reached the stage where users need no longer to act as passive observers. As the technology evolves further we will be able to engage in computer based synthetic performances that mimic events in the real or natural world. Performances in this context refers to plays, films, computer based simulations, engineering mock-ups, etc. At a more fundamental level, we are dealing with complex interactions of the human sensory and perceptual systems with a stimulus environment (covering visual, auditory and other components). Authors or rather directors of these new media environments will exploit computer generated perceptual illusions to convince the person (participant) who is interacting with the system that they are present in the environment. Taken to the limit the participant would not be able to distinguish between being in a real or natural environment compared with being in a purely synthetic environment. Unfortunately, the performance of current technology falls considerably short of even getting even close to providing a faithful perceptual illusion of the real world. Eventually, VR authoring tools will become more sophisticated and it will be possible to produce realistic virtual environments that match more closely with the real world. Some VR practitioners have attempted to collect data that they purport to represent the degree of presence a user experiences. Unfortunately, we do not yet have an agreed definition of presence and seem undecided whether it is a meaningful metric in its own right. This paper will examine the dangers of attempting to measure the 'presence' of a VR system as a one-dimensional parameter. The question of whether presence is a valid measure of a VR system will also be addressed. An important differentiating characteristic of VR systems compared with other human-computer interfaces are their ability to create a sense of 'being-in' the computer generated environment. Other forms of media such as film and TV are also known to induce a sense of 'being-in' the environment. Some VR practitioners have tended to use the term presence to describe this effect This means that people who are engaged in the virtual environment feel as though they are actually part of the virtual environment. In order to be perceptually present in a virtual environment it is first important to understand what it means to be present in the real-world. A good example of real world experience is that of a roller coaster ride. The sensory …

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