Immersive experience influences eye blink rate during virtual reality gaming

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) technology now provides players with immersive and realistic experiences as never before. Spatial presence plays a crucial role in the introduction of immersive experience in a VR environment. Spatial presence is a special feeling of personal and physical presence in the displayed environment. In this study, we found that the first-person perspective (1PP) was more effective in raising the sense of spatial presence that induces immersive experience compared to the third-person perspective (3PP) in a VR shooting game. Moreover, eye blink rate was significantly higher in the 1PP compared with the 3PP. The 1PP game setting was more realistic than the 3PP setting, and may have raised participants’sense of immersion and facilitated eye blink. These results indicate that eye blink rate is increased by the sense of spatial presence, and can be a good measure of subjective immersive experience in a VR environment. Neuroscientific evidences suggest that dopaminergic system is involved in such emotional experiences and physiological responses.