VR Gaming and Presence Study

Virtual reality (VR) gaming has grown significantly, offering highly immersive sensory environments. A group of cognitive psychologists wanted to investigate how different gaming setups affect players' psychological engagement and physical comfort.

The researchers recruited 180 participants from a university gaming society. The sample consisted of 95 males, 80 females, and 5 non-binary individuals aged 18–25, with a mean age of 20.4 years. Participants provided written informed consent and played a standard exploration game for 30 minutes, either using a fully immersive VR headset or a standard flat-screen desktop monitor. After the gaming session, they completed a questionnaire designed to measure three psychological dimensions:

• Spatial Presence: the subjective sensation of 'being there' inside the virtual environment. Items included statements such as 'I felt as though the virtual environment was real'.
• Flow State: the psychological state of deep absorption and effortless concentration. Items included statements such as 'I completely lost track of time while playing'.
• Cybersickness: the physical discomfort and disorientation caused by virtual motion. Items included statements such as 'I felt dizzy or nauseous during the session'.

Each statement was scored using a ranked Likert scale with seven options, ranging from 'Strongly Disagree (1)' to 'Strongly Agree (7)'. The responses for each dimension were averaged for each participant to yield a score from 1 to 7, where a higher score indicated a greater intensity of that psychological state.

The researchers in the VR gaming study used the mean score to analyse the data from their ranked scale questions.