Virtual Reality Provides an Eyewitness Experience That Is Similar to Real Life

Abstract

Traditional methods used for presenting to-be-remembered events in eyewitness memory research are often criticized for lacking scientific rigor. Videos lack ecological validity, and though staged live events are realistic, they lack experimental control. Virtual reality (VR) has been proposed as a promising alternative, offering immersive realism in a controlled environment. In this study, 141 participants viewed an event either live, on video, or in VR. Presence, emotional experience, heart rate, and recall were compared across groups, and it was seen that the VR experience was highly similar to the live-event group. The video group reported significantly lower presence, ecological validity, and heart rate changes compared to the VR group. These findings suggest that VR can offer a highly realistic witness experience while maintaining experimental control, making it a valuable tool for eyewitness memory research.