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Thermal feedback is critical to a range of Virtual Reality (VR) applications, such as firefighting training or thermal comfort simulation. Previous studies showed that adding congruent thermal feedback positively influences User eXperience…

This chapter explores the practice of conducting user research studies and design assessments in virtual reality (VR). An overview of key VR hardware and software tools is provided, including game engines, such as Unity and Unreal Engine.…

Emotions are an integral part of being human, and experiencing a range of emotions is what makes life rich and vibrant. From basic emotions like anger, fear, happiness, and sadness to more complex ones like excitement and grief, emotions…

Virtual Reality (VR) is seeing increased adoption across many fields. The field of experimental cognitive science is also testing utilization of the technology combined with physiological measures such as electroencephalography (EEG) and…

Virtual humans play a pivotal role in social virtual environments, shaping users' VR experiences. The diversity in available options and users' preferences can result in a heterogeneous mix of appearances among a group of virtual humans.…

Sedentary behavior is becoming increasingly prevalent in daily work and study environments. VR exergaming has emerged as a promising solution in these places of work and study. However, private spaces in these environments are not easy, and…

Virtual reality (VR) is known to cause a "time compression" effect, where the time spent in VR feels to pass faster than the effective elapsed time. Our goal with this research is to investigate if the physical realism of a VR experience…

Identification within media, whether with real or fictional characters, significantly impacts users, shaping their behavior and enriching their social and emotional experiences. Immersive media, like video games, utilize virtual entities…

Virtual Reality (VR) has gained popularity by providing immersive and interactive experiences without geographical limitations. It also provides a sense of personal privacy through physical separation. In this paper, we show that despite…

This paper proposes a perceptual visual analysis regarding the personality of virtual humans. Many studies have presented findings regarding the way human beings perceive virtual humans with respect to their faces, body animation, motion in…

There has been a large body of research focused on the representation of gender in video games. Disproportionately, there has been very little research in respect to the representation of disability. This research was aimed at examining the…

Online harms, such as hate speech, trolling and self-harm promotion, continue to be widespread. There are growing concerns that these harms may disproportionately affect women, reflecting and reproducing existing structural inequalities…

Humans make their evacuation decisions first at strategic/tactical levels, deciding their exit and route choice and then at operational level, navigating to a way-point, avoiding collisions. What influences an individuals at tactical level…

Immersive virtual reality (VR) enables controlled tests of how emotional context distorts subjective time, yet findings remain mixed. Fifty-seven adults explored three five-minute VR environments (tranquil garden, neutral room, threatening…

Human-like agents are an increasingly important topic in games and beyond. Believable non-player characters enhance the gaming experience by improving immersion and providing entertainment. They also offer players the opportunity to engage…

In most VR experiences, the visual sense dominates other modes of sensory input, encouraging non-visual senses to respond as if the visual were real. The simulated visual world thus becomes a sort of felt actuality, where the 'actual'…

Virtual Reality (VR) broadcasting has seen widespread adoption in major sports events, attributed to its ability to generate a sense of presence, curiosity, and excitement among viewers. However, we have noticed that still shots reveal a…

Neurodivergent individuals, particularly those with Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), frequently experience anxiety, panic attacks, meltdowns, and emotional dysregulation due to societal pressures and inadequate…

Identifying cybersickness in virtual reality (VR) applications such as games in a fast, precise, non-intrusive, and non-disruptive way remains challenging. Several factors can cause cybersickness, and their identification will help find its…

Size and distance perception in Virtual Reality (VR) have been widely studied, albeit in a controlled laboratory setting with a small number of participants. We describe a fully remote perceptual study with a gamified protocol to encourage…