User Performance in Virtual Reality Environments: The Capability of Immersive Virtual Reality Systems in Enhancing User Spatial Awareness and Producing Consistent Design Results

Abstract

Spatial decision-making in different virtual environments may vary based on the levels of spatial awareness experienced within Virtual Reality (VR) systems. Features and characteristics of VR systems may act as facilitators or distractors of spatial awareness, which can result in extreme variations in user spatial decisions. This research explored the capability of an Immersive Virtual Reality Interactive Environment (IVRIE) and a desktop-based VR (DT system) in reducing extreme variations in spatial decisions and inconsistent design results. Users’ spatial decisions, performance, and design results in both systems were studied regarding the impact of these two systems’ features on users, including the sense of immersion, types of interaction, and usage of eye-level view in spatial designs. The design results produced in both systems were compared considering the types of enclosure, surface texture, scale, and spatial function. Descriptive and inferential statistical comparisons and testing using quantitative and qualitative data were applied to determine participants’ performance regarding the production of spatial outliers in each system. The results showed that IVRIE was more effective than the DT system fostering a consistency of space sizes and reducing outliers.