Inducing fear: Cardboard virtual reality and 2D video

Abstract

A Virtual Reality based training can be an interesting method to teach crowd managers and emergency responders how to act in emergency situations under pressure. Compared to watching Two-Dimensional Video, Virtual Reality is assumed to induce stronger emotions and a more real-life experience of the emergency situation. To test this assumption, sixty participants were tested on whether there is a difference in inducing fear between cardboard Virtual Reality glasses and watching a 2D video. Subjective (PANAS) and objective (heart rate, blood pressure) ratings of their mood were measured before, during and after watching a horror movie. Results show that both VR and 2D induced fear significantly in all subjective and objective measures, but that there was no significant difference between these video screen conditions. Based on inducing fear alone, a video based training could be as effective as a cardboard VR training. More research is needed to investigate this further.