Horror laboratory and forest cabin - A horror game series for desktop computer, virtual reality, and smart substitutional reality

Abstract

The games Horror Laboratory and Horror Cabin were designed to investigate ethic issues of virtual reality (VR), however, the presented work focuses on their technical implementation. Each game runs on desktop computer (PC), VR, and extended VR, namely smart substitutional reality (SSR). SSR describes the integration of smart home devices into VR as well as matching the real and virtual environment. Thereby it enriches the games by adding sensory stimuli. A study was conducted to, inter alia, compare the effects of the games' presentation on the perceived presence and the induced emotions. Also, effects of desensitization were examined. Selected results show higher spatial presence for VR and SSR compared to the PC condition. There were no differences regarding the users' emotional experience nor regarding desensitization effects. Further analysis will be part of future work.