The role of display technology and individual differences on presence

Originality/Value -- Having a better understanding of the relation between human factors and feelings of presence may facilitate the selection of people that are most likely to benefit from virtual reality applications such as virtual reality exposure therapy (e.g. Krijn et al, 2004). A better understanding of how presence can be optimized on different displays, may also lead to the possibility to use less complex display types (as compared to HMD's or CAVE's) to create virtual reality consumer applications. It also opens the possibility to tailor the virtual reality display to the individual, optimizing presence. Research approach -- First, we investigate the relationships between perceived presence and some human factors, including stereoscopic ability, depth impression, and personality. We describe this experiment here in some detail. Second, we focus on the potential maximum presence that can be obtained for specific devices, for example, by manipulating the size, perspective and viewing distance. Third, we will investigate how monocular depth cues can be used to maximize presence for different display types. Finally, we will look specifically at how presence can be maximized on small hand-held devices, for example by incorporating compensation for display movement. In all our experiments we will focus on public speaking and person-to-avatar communication. Presence is measured in three different ways: 1) through questionnaires, 2) behaviourally, and 3) physiologically. Motivation--Several factors such as the kind of display technology and the level of user interaction have been found to affect presence (e.g., IJsselsteijn et al, 2000). Generally, it had been concluded that the more immersive types of display result in higher levels of presence. However, studies comparing the effect of display technology on presence are mostly based on rendering the same content across different displays. Previous studies have typically not attempted to optimize the content for each display type individually. Furthermore, it has not been considered before that some viewers may not benefit as much as others from higher levels of technology.