Fear as a biofeedback game mechanic in virtual reality

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) is now an affordable technology that is starting to penetrate the mass market. Providing accessible solutions to enhance VR experiences is crucial. In this paper, we consider a wearable solution as a mean of interaction in VR, to add a biofeedback mechanic. We hypothesized that the use of a biofeedback loop in a VR experience can enhance user engagement. We created a physiologically enhanced horror game coupled with a heart rate monitor smart wristband. We evaluated the players' engagement with and without biofeedback. We observed a high interest of the participants for biofeedback and highlighted higher engagement when the biofeedback mechanic was fully integrated in the experience. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Virtual reality; User centered design;

Effects of voluntary heart rate control on user engagement and agency in a virtual reality game

“…Moreover, the only game mechanic present in the game was centered around the control of heart rate, so the felt involvement, gratification and focused attention are all consequences of this factor only. These results tend to validate our hypothesis H1 and are in accordance with previous studies (Nacke et al 2011;Houzangbe et al 2018a). From our results, we cannot straightly confirm that the participants with the more control are more engaged in the experience whatever the difficulty level is (H2).…”

“…It is important to be able to adapt the level of challenge depending on the level of physiological control to create a state of flow and generate engagement. Some studies have been conducted to understand the effects of biofeedback on user engagement, for gaming (Dekker and Champion 2007;Ambinder 2011) and VR (Dey et al 2017;Houzangbe et al 2018a). The consensus of the studies is that the usage of biofeedback is a vector of higher engagement (Ohmoto et al 2017;Argasiński et al 2018).…”

“…The usage of physiology in virtual reality (VR) has been studied in order to bring more out of the experience (Muñoz et al 2016;Dey et al 2017). If the general consensus seems to point toward the fact that the usage of physiological biofeedback can increase user engagement in VR experiences, it has some limitations when it is not fully taken into account (Dekker and Champion 2007;Houzangbe et al 2018a). Most of the studies focusing on biofeedback in VR use it as a passive tool to understand the user's state or adapt the environment.…”

Effects of Voluntary Heart Rate Control on User Engagement in Virtual Reality

“…The application is split in three parts. The first is a blank screen informing the participants that the calibration of their heart rate baseline is being performed (based on the work of Houzangbe et al [2]). The second part is a training phase, the screen shows different breathing patterns that the participants have to follow (a fast and shallow breathing pattern and a slow a deep breathing pattern), in order to observe the effects of these patterns on their heart rate.…”

“…The general consensus seems to point toward the fact that the usage of physiological biofeedback can bring more user engagement in VR experiences [5]. However, biofeedback generally takes the role of an additional mechanic that the user can neglect [2]. That is why we want to study how a voluntary biofeedback game mechanic can influence user experience in Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE).…”