Individual differences in processing multisensory information predict presence in different virtual reality environments

Abstract

One of the most notable aspects of using a head mounted display is the feeling of being ‘within’ the digitally created virtual world. Technological advances across the fields of computer science and engineering have helped to increase this sense of presence. However, there remain wide variations between individuals, which are only just beginning to be captured at a theoretical level. One potential explanation for these individual differences may be how individuals process multisensory information. In this paper we detail two studies which explored whether performance on two different multisensory tasks (the pip and pop and a redundant signals task), predict some of these differences in self-reported presence. In study 1 (N = 32), clear correlations between the multisensory task (pip and pop) and presence scores were found using an underwater simulation. This provided the first indication that individuals that were positively influenced by illusory audiovisual conjunctions were also those that had the strongest sense of presence. Study 2 (N = 68) expanded upon these results, finding again that multisensory integration (within a redundant signals task) was related to self-reports of presence using a different VR experience. In addition, it was found that this relationship could be moderated by either providing a unisensory or multisensory VR experience. Together these results suggest that individual differences in the efficiency of multisensory integration may provide an additional level of explanation not currently accounted for within theoretical models of presence formation.