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Understanding user experience in gaming
Understanding user experience in gaming
Sri Chaitanya Sanaboina
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i
UNDERSTANDING USER EXPERINCE IN GAMING
by
SRI CHAITANYA SANABOINA
A THESIS
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the
MISSOURI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
2016
Approved by
Dr. Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah
Dr. Keng Siau
Dr. Nathan Twyman
ii
2016
Sri Chaitanya Sanaboina
All Rights Reserved
iii
ABSTRACT
This research examines the effect of virtual reality gaming versus desktop based
gaming on spatial presence, social presence, and intention to play. It draws on cognitive
theory of presence, social presence theory, and theory of reasoned action to generate the
research hypotheses and explain the observed phenomenon. A within-subject
experimental design (N=53) was used to evaluate the effects of virtual reality versus
desktop based gaming. The results suggest that both spatial presence and social presence
were significantly enhanced in the virtual reality gaming environment while intention to
play was significantly greater in the desktop based gaming environment.
Keywords: Virtual Realty, Spatial Presence, Social Presence, Intention to Play,
Cognitive Theory of Presence
iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, for the continuous
support, enormous knowledge, and motivation. Her support has been outstanding right
from the beginning and gave me knowledge on how to write a research oriented paper
and also taught me the IBM SPSS tool for data analysis.
Besides my advisor, I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee
members, Dr. Keng Siau and Dr. Nathan Twyman, for their insightful encouragement and
comments on my initial research proposal which helped me to steer in the right direction.
I would also like to thank my fellow researchers, Lakshmi Sushma Daggubati,
Prashanth Kumar Lakkapragada, for helping me with the data analysis and in conducting
the experimental study respectively. Last but not the least, I would finally thank Samuel
Smith for helping me to proofread my thesis.
Also special thanks to Laboratory of Information technology and Evaluation
(LITE) for providing me with access to various devices like Oculus Rift and EEG which
sparked my interest to pursue this research.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents and all my friends for supporting me and
encouraging me with their blessings throughout my master’s degree program.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ……………………………………………………………………………………. iv
LIST OF TABLES
……………………………………………………………………………………………… vii
SECTION
1. INTRODUCTION
………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
2. LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………………………………………….. 3
2.1. VIRTUAL REALITY …………………………………………………………………………… 3
2.2. PRIOR RESEARCH ON SPATIAL PRESENCE
…………………………………….. 5
2.3. PRIOR RESEARCH ON SOCIAL PRESENCE
………………………………………. 5
3. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION AND HYPOTHESES ………………………………… 8
3.1. COGNITIVE THEORY OF PRESENCE ……………………………………………….. 8
3.2. SOCIAL PRESENCE THEORY
………………………………………………………….. 10
3.3. THEORY OF REASONED ACTION
…………………………………………………… 12
3.4. HYPOTHESIS GENERATION …………………………………………………………… 13
3.4.1. Virtual Reality and Spatial Presence ……………………………………………. 13
3.4.2. Virtual Reality and Social Presence …………………………………………….. 14
3.4.3. Virtual Reality and Intention to Play
……………………………………………. 14
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………………………… 16
4.1. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN ……………………………………………………………….. 16
4.2. RESEARCH PROCEDURES
………………………………………………………………. 16
4.3. MEASUREMENT ……………………………………………………………………………… 18
4.3.1. Visual Spatial Imagery ………………………………………………………………. 18
4.3.2. Immersive Tendencies
……………………………………………………………….. 18
4.3.3. Spatial Presence.
……………………………………………………………………….. 19
4.3.4. Social Presence
…………………………………………………………………………. 20
4.3.5. Intention to Play ……………………………………………………………………….. 21
4.3.6. Subject Background Questionnaire ……………………………………………… 21
4.4. PILOT TESTS ……………………………………………………………………………………. 22
vi
5. DATA ANALYSIS ……………………………………………………………………………………. 23
5.1. MEASUREMENT VALIDATION ………………………………………………………… 25
5.2. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS ……………………………………………………………… 25
5.2.1. Spatial Presence
………………………………………………………………………….. 27
5.2.2. Social Presence
…………………………………………………………………………… 28
5.2.3. Intention to Play …………………………………………………………………………. 28
5.3. QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
………………………………………………………………… 29
6. DISCUSSIONS …………………………………………………………………………………………. 31
7. LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ………………………………………………. 33
8. CONCLUSIONS ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 34
APPENDICES
A. COUNTER-STRIKE GAME COMMANDS…………………………………………………. 35
B. PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS FOR DESKTOP ……………………………………………. 37
C. GAMING SESSION INSTRUCTIONS FOR DESKTOP ………………………………. 39
D. PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS FOR OCULUS (VIRTUAL REALITY)
…………… 41
E. GAMING SESSION INSTRUCTIONS FOR OCULUS (VIRTUAL REALITY)
. 44
F. SUBJECT BACKGROUND QUESTIONNAIRE…………………………………46
BIBLIOGRAPHY
………………………………………………………………………………………………. 48
VITA……. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 54
vii
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 4.1. Measurement Scale for Visual Spatial Imagery ………………………………………. 18
Table 4.2. Measurement Scale for Immersive Tendencies ……………………………………….. 19
Table 4.3. Measurement Scale for Spatial Presence ………………………………………………… 20
Table 4.4. Measurement Scale for Social Presence …………………………………………………. 20
Table 4.5. Measurement Scale for Intention to Play
………………………………………………… 21
Table 5.1. Summary of Demographic Information of Subjects
…………………………………. 23
Table 5.2. Descriptive Statistics for Visual Spatial Imagery …………………………………….. 24
Table 5.3. Descriptive Statistics for Immersive Tendencies……………………………………… 24
Table 5.4. Results of Factor Analysis for Desktop ………………………………………………….. 26
Table 5.5. Results of Factor Analysis for Oculus ……………………………………………………. 26
Table 5.6. Descriptive Statistics……………………………………………………………………………. 27
Table 5.7. Paired Samples T-tests
…………………………………………………………………………. 28
Table 5.8. Results of Hypothesis Testing ………………………………………………………………. 29
1
1. INTRODUCTION
In the early 1990’s, Virtual Reality (VR) grabbed special attention not only in the
field of computer science but also in other disciplines such as communications, media
psychology, and media studies (Bracken & Skalski, 2010). Due to advancements in VR
technology, the devices are diffusing into homes. Later on, the concept of presence
grabbed a lot of attention which led to the development of virtual space and dimensions
of virtual space (Seibert, 2014).
According to a report by Newzoo, console games generated a revenue of $26.4
billion dollars in the year 2015 (Sinclair, 2015). Interest in the field of immersive displays
and virtual reality environments led to the release of 3D (stereoscopic) movies as well as
industry releases such as Oculus Rift by Facebook, Project Morpheus by Sony
entertainment, and HoloLens by Microsoft (Kayatt & Nakamura, 2015). Currently, there
are different versions of VR headsets such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Microsoft
HoloLens. After that, a new VR headset named Oculus Rift Consumer Version (CV1)
developed by Facebook was released into the market where the experience of VR is
redefined.
In this research, a laboratory experiment was conducted to understand the effect
of desktop vs virtual reality gaming on player experience in terms of spatial presence,
social presence, and intention to play in the context of a first person shooter game.
Specifically, the interest of this study is to examine if virtual reality in online gaming
increases players’ sense of spatial presence and social presence, as well as their intention
to play the game again.
2
This paper is organized as follows. First, the literature review is presented which
is followed by the theoretical foundation and the hypotheses. Next, the research
methodology is described, after which the results are presented and discussed. Finally,
the limitations and directions for future research are highlighted.
3
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
VIRTUAL REALITY
Recently, there has been a widely expressed interest in the use of VR as a medium
for playing games. Advanced technology is used to immerse users in a three dimensional,
multisensory VR environment. An example of VR is when users wear a head mounted
display along with headphones and use a joystick as a controller. The user’s field of real
world vision is covered and replaced with the virtual world’s visual simulation by the
head mounted display helmet. Likewise, headphones can be used to block out external
auditory stimuli with audio from the virtual environment. The head mounted display
helmet contains a motion tracker that allows head movements in the physical
environment to be replicated in the virtual environment. Also, the usage of a joystick
allows the user to move around the virtual environment and to interact with virtual items
in the environment. Various types of environments are developed for VR, from
interacting with gorillas in a jungle habitat to riding down a snow slope and throwing
snowballs at snowmen (Kenney & Milling, 2016).
Recently, the market for home entertainment has experienced a revolution in more
realistic 3D videos which are readily available at a lower price. Likewise, new lines of
production in video games and 3D televisions have entered into the home market. Such
3D graphics can enhance the vividness and perceptual realism experienced in a game.
Perceptual realism, which shows how perceptually real mediated environments appear,
can generate what was called “presence as realism” (Lombard & Ditton, 1997). A study
demonstrated that the realism generated by advancements of video game technology led
to a greater feeling of presence (Ivory & Kalyanaraman, 2007). Steuer (1992) argued that
4
the capability of a technology to create presence depends on two factors: vividness and
interactivity. Vividness refers to the representational richness of a mediated environment
in terms of its formal features or the way in which information is presented to the senses
(Steuer, 1992). Steuer (1992) further conceptualizes vividness in terms of sensory breadth
(i.e., number of sensory dimensions simultaneously presented) and sensory depth (i.e.,
resolution within each of the perceptual channels). Vividness is also referred to as the
capability of a technology to create a sensory rich mediated environment that could have
effects on presence (Williams, 2014). Interactivity refers to the extent to which the form
and content of a mediated environment can be modified in real time (Steuer, 1992).
Steuer (1992) conceptualizes interactivity as comprising three factors: speed or response
time (i.e., the rate of assimilation of input in the mediated environment), range (i.e., the
number of attributes of the mediated environment that can be manipulated and the degree
of variations within each attribute), and mapping (i.e., the degree to which the controls
map to changes in the mediated environment in a natural and predictable manner).
Presence has been defined in various ways. In short, presence is the sense of being
located in a mediated environment (Williams, 2014). Lee (2004) defined presence as a
psychological perception where virtual objects are experienced as real objects in either
sensory or non-sensory ways. Presence is also defined as the degree to which individuals
feel present in a mediated environment instead of the actual physical environment
(Steuer, 1992). The International Society of Presence Research describes presence as a
multi-dimensional concept that includes telepresence and social presence. This society
also argues that presence can be separated into those that relate to the sense of physical
environments, sense of social interactions, and both physical environments and social
5
interactions. The present study examines the sense of the physical environment, or more
specifically, the concepts of spatial presence and social presence (Williams, 2014).
PRIOR RESEARCH ON SPATIAL PRESENCE
Most of the current research that has been carried out to study presence
investigated spatial presence, which is also referred to as telepresence. Spatial presence is
defined as the user’s subjective experience that he or she is being physically present in a
mediated environment (Sacau et al., 2008). Spatial presence is also defined as a sense of
illusion that makes the individual think that the environment is non-mediated (Lombard
& Ditton, 1997). Though the belief that spatial presence depends on the characteristics of
the technology still exists, the literature on spatial presence has increasingly placed more
importance on subjective psychological factors (Williams, 2014).
Spatial presence is specifically related to the technologies designed to produce
immersive media experiences, such as film, TV, and video games. In fact, technological
developments such as high definition images (Bracken & Campanella, 2005; Bracken et
al., 2010), larger screens (Kim & Sundar, 2013; Lombard et al., 2000) and stereoscopic
3D images (W. IJsselsteijn et al., 1998; W. A. IJsselsteijn et al., 2001) enhance spatial
presence compared with technologies that are less immersive (Lull & Bushman, 2014).
PRIOR RESEARCH ON SOCIAL PRESENCE
Social presence is considered one of the important aspects by scholars studying
virtual environments (Axelsson et al., 2001; Hoyt et al., 2003; Slater et al., 2000). Social
presence has been defined as the feeling of being with other people in a mediated
6
environment (Biocca et al., 2001; Shen & Khalifa, 2008). Social presence represents the
users’ sense of communicating or interacting with other entities or people in the mediated
environment (Choi et al., 2001). Although there seems to be no established antecedents of
social presence, many researchers agreed that social cues provided by a system and
information about social interactions with other users are related with social presence
(Lee et al., 2012).
Lombard and Ditton (1997) classified presence into six dimensions: social
richness, realism, transportation, immersion, social actor within medium, and medium as
social actor. Social richness refers to the degree to which a medium is perceived as
sociable, intimate, and personal. Realism refers to the degree to which a medium is able
to produce representations that are seemingly accurate and real. Transportation can take
place when (i) users are being brought or transported to another environment, (ii) objects
in an environment along with the environment are being brought or transported to the
user, or (iii) users and the virtual environment (and/or objects in the environment) are
being transported together to a shared environment. Immersion refers to the perceptual
and psychological sense of being submerged in a virtual environment. Presence as ‘social
actor within medium’ refers to the perception of interacting with social actors in a virtual
environment, whereas presence as ‘medium as social actor’ refers to social responses to
cues provided by the medium rather than to entities (i.e., people or computer agents)
within the medium.
According to the social richness dimension, individuals assess the abilities of a
medium to convey social presence. Additionally, presence as ‘social actor within
medium’ enhances social presence. Therefore, social presence refers to the degree of
7
sociability, personalness, and emotional contact conveyed by an environment and the
actors within the environment.
Previous studies have examined social presence in terms of media features
(Lombard & Ditton, 1997). Most of the previous research on virtual environments tend to
emphasize the technological features of an environment in creating social presence. In
virtual environments, using avatars and displaying individual’s online status could induce
social presence (Shen & Khalifa, 2008). The use of verbal and nonverbal communication
media and the use of avatars make it easier for individuals to connect both
psychologically and socially (Bulu, 2012).
8
3. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION AND HYPOTHESES
The aim of this research is to understand user experience in VR gaming. To
generate hypotheses for this research, cognitive theory of presence, social presence
theory, and theory of reasoned action are used to explain spatial presence, social
presence, and intention to play.
3.1. COGNITIVE THEORY OF PRESENCE
Cognitive theory of presence focuses on spatial presence and discusses two
cognitive steps during its formation (Wirth et al., 2007). During the first step, user
attention is allocated among the stimuli in a virtual environment which in turn creates a
simulated spatial mental model that is called the spatial situation model. Media richness
and vividness influence the allocation of attention during the formation of the spatial
situation model. In the second step, individuals must accept or reject this spatial situation
model as their own egocentric frame of reference or point of view. If accepted, spatial
presence is said to have been created for the individual; if rejected, the real world’s
mental model remains as the individual’s primary frame of reference. Interactivity and
persistence are the media factors that affect the acceptance of the spatial situation model
as the primary reference frame. Although it is not explicitly stated, cognitive theory of
presence strongly stresses that both the formation and acceptance of the primary
egocentric reference frame are unconscious processes of spatial cognition (Wirth et al.,
2007).
As mentioned earlier, according to Steuer (1992), vividness has two dimensions:
(i) breadth and (ii) depth. Breadth refers to the number of sensory perception channels
9
which can be presented simultaneously. For example, video has greater depth when
compared to audio. Depth refers to the quality and quantity of the perceptual channels.
For instance, a high definition (HD) medium has greater depth than an ordinary quality
medium (Cheng et al., 2014). Steuer (1992) described interactivity as the “extent to
which users can participate in modifying the form and content of a mediated environment
in real time” (p.75). Previous studies on interactivity recognized three major means of
abstracting interactivity, i.e., the views of telepresence, process, and perception
(McMillan & Hwang, 2002).
Previous research suggests that interactivity and vividness influence presence
(Klein, 2003). Furthermore, studies found that environments which have more vividness
and media richness impact the presence level perceived in virtual environments (Fortin &
Dholakia, 2005; Li et al., 2001; Welch et al., 1996). As discussed earlier, media richness
and vividness can help in the formation of the spatial situation model, which is an
antecedent of spatial presence. To enhance vividness, tools that are rich in media such as
audio, visualization, and animation can help to increase the richness of the experience.
According to Rothschild (1987) as well as Zeff and Aronson (1999) , attention can
increase when animations are used effectively.
Researchers have studied presence from the perspective of interactivity. For
instance, Shih (1998) stated that the user’s interaction and the feedback received from the
environment can have an effect on the user’s sense of presence. Hoffmann and Novak
(1999) stated that, through constant feedback and response, presence can be enhanced.
Studies also have found that the capability to respond quickly enhance one’s online
presence (Amant, 2002; Animesh et al., 2011). Spatial presence occurs if an individual
10
experiences the sense of being located in a mediated environment and the sense of being
able to take actions within the mediated environment. Spatial presence is expected to
exist in the context of VR environments or video games, but to a lesser extent within
films or books (Weibel et al., 2015; Wirth et al., 2007).
3.2. SOCIAL PRESENCE THEORY
Social presence refers to the “feeling of being with one another” (Biocca et al.,
2003, p.456). It is mainly used to sense the presence of other people in distant locations.
Lombard and Ditton (1997) referred to social presence as “social richness” which is
considered as another aspect of presence. Social richness is defined as the degree to
which a medium is observed as sociable, warm, sensitive, personal, or intimate, and it is
used to interact with other characters or people. Several information systems and
organizational behavior research has examined the concept of presence, particularly
social presence theory (Biocca et al., 2003) and media richness theory (Daft & Lengel,
1983; Rice, 1992).
Media richness theory (Daft & Lengel, 1983) and theory of social presence (Short
et al., 1976) indicate that presence is dependent upon the basis of the technology. In
social presence theory, to convey socially richer information, the technologies are ranked
according to their capacity to transfer information on expressions, gestures, and audio
output, all of which create the sense of social presence. In media richness theory,
different technologies are classified on the basis of immediate feedback, nonverbal back-
channeling cues, personalization, and language variety. The theory proposes that a virtual
environment is socially rich when compared to a lean medium. For example, an e-mail is
11
not a rich medium because it has limited capacities to convey social presence. From the
perspective of media richness theory, social presence is highly dependent on technologies
(Bulu, 2012).
Several theories, including social presence theory, can help to explain what makes
a technology seem more human-like. Social presence is “the degree of salience of the
other person in a mediated communication and the consequent salience of their
interpersonal interactions” (Short et al., 1976, p. 65). Social presence theory posits that
the attributes of a technology influence whether it is perceived as being more sociable,
warm, and personal than other technologies based on the extent to which it allows a user
to experience other individuals as being psychologically present. Researchers have used
social presence in two distinct ways: (1) to refer to a property of a medium in a mediated
communication, and (2) to refer to participants’ perceptions, behavior, or attitudes in
mediated interactions (Gunawardena, 1995; Rettie, 2003). Rettie (2003) explained that
social presence can be considered a property of the medium and is also related to a
property of perception or interaction because the characteristic of a medium is derived
from the effect of the medium on the participants’ perceptions and interpersonal
interactions.
Since the development of social presence theory, researchers have used it to
study computer mediated communication and online learning (Qiu & Benbasat, 2009).
Qiu and Benbasat (2009) have used the theory to examine how people are connected to
other people through technology and how people interact with technology. Researchers
have also used social presence theory to investigate online marketing and e-commerce
websites (Gefen et al., 2003; Kumar & Benbasat, 2006). Much of this research has
12
examined the ways in which social presence can be enhanced. For example, IS
researchers have found that one can increase individual perceptions of social presence
with socially rich text content and personalized greetings (Gefen et al., 2003), emotive
text and human images (Cyr et al., 2009), live chat and online reviews (Cyr et al., 2007),
interactivity and voice (Wang & Benbasat, 2007), humanoid embodiment and human
voice-based communication (Qiu & Benbasat, 2009).
3.3. THEORY OF REASONED ACTION
The theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975)
states that behavioral intention is an antecedent of behavior. There are two belief
antecedents of behavioral intention: behavioral beliefs and normative beliefs. Behavioral
beliefs are the main cause of influencing an individual’s attitude toward a behavior.
Normative beliefs are the cause of influencing an individual’s subjective norm regarding
the behavior. Thus, these salient beliefs influence subsequent behavior and intentions
through attitudes and/or subjective norms.
Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) identified three boundary conditions which have an
effect on the magnitude of the relationship between intention and behavior. The boundary
conditions are: (a) the extent to which the behavioral criterion and the measure of
intention correspond with the levels of specificity, (b) the stability intentions between
performance of behavior and time of measurement, and (c) the extent to which an
individual has volitional control to carry out the behavior.
As per the theory of reasoned action, behavioral intention is the user’s self-
evaluated likelihood of performing an action (Ajzen, 1985). This theory has been widely
13
used in extending the technology acceptance model to explain behavioral intention to use
or to accept a particular technology (Davis et al., 1989; Hsu & Chiu, 2004). Furthermore,
behavioral intention is often used to evaluate an individual’s intention to reuse the
technology in the future (Choi, Lee, & Kim, 2011; Lee et al., 2012).
3.4. HYPOTHESIS GENERATION
This section will draw on the theoretical foundation reviewed earlier to generate
hypotheses for this research. In this study, virtual reality is the independent variable
whereas spatial presence, social presence and intention to play are the dependent
variables.
3.4.1. Virtual Reality and Spatial Presence. VR environments deliver rich
media with a high volume of content and representational quality. The sensory breadth
and depth of an interface can determine the degree of media richness (Steuer 1992).
Depth refers to the quality of information within each channel. VR environment enhances
sensory depth, specifically from the visual sense perspective, as it can represent more
details through the perceived depth afforded by the VR environment. Similarly, in a VR
environment, the sensory breadth is also wider as the VR environment offers a 360
degree view as compared to a static or traditional view. Given that VR games are richer
in media than desktop based games, vividness is higher in VR games compared to
desktop games. Hence, VR gaming facilitates the creation and perception of a spatial
situation model. As discussed in cognitive theory of presence, the formation of the spatial
situation model is one of the factors that create and enhance spatial presence. Therefore,
14
vividness is higher in VR games, and thus players experience higher levels of spatial
presence.
Hence, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H1: Virtual reality increases spatial presence.
3.4.2. Virtual Reality and Social Presence. Given that VR increases the richness
of a medium in terms of its depth and breadth, a player in the VR gaming environment
can become more aware of other players in the environment because of the increased
sense of presence afforded by the richer medium. Thus, in the VR gaming environment,
vividness helps to enhance players’ perception of other characters as real because the VR
medium generates more realistic environment when compared to the desktop gaming
(Schroeder, 2012). As a consequence, one of the dimensions of social presence, the
degree of contact, is higher due to higher realism in VR games. Therefore, VR games can
enable players to experience a higher sense of social presence than desktop games.
Hence, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H2: Virtual reality increases social presence.
3.4.3. Virtual Reality and Intention to Play. Given that the VR environment
affords a richer medium for game play, the experience of being engaged in the game or
simply having fun would have an impact on intentions to play the game again in the VR
environment. Previous studies have shown that virtual environments which are more
vivid influence the presence level in the virtual environments (Fortin & Dholakia, 2005;
Li et al., 2001; Welch et al., 1996). Arguably, vividness influences behavioral intentions
toward a specific task. As vividness is higher in the VR environment, players’ behavioral
15
intention of playing a game will be positively influenced by VR. Hence, the following
hypothesis is proposed:
H3: Virtual reality increases intention to play.
16
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
In this study, a within-subject experimental design was used. The independent
variable, VR versus desktop-based environment, is a within-subject factor, where
desktop-based environment served as the control condition. A within-subject factor is one
where each subject experiences all levels of that factor. Since one of the goals of this
study is to assess the effect of desktop-based versus VR game playing experience, it is
more appropriate to operationalize VR as a within-subject factor so subjects serve as their
own control. In order to remove any potential ordering effects, counterbalancing was
used on the order of these two game playing experiences in which the first experimental
condition alternated between the desktop and VR condition for every subsequent subject
in the study.
After a comprehensive review and thorough search of first person shooter games,
Counter-Strike was identified as an appropriate game that fits the research purpose. The
reasons for choosing this game are: (1) it has the ability to support the same game in two
different environments i.e., Counter-Strike has the flexibility to support both desktop and
VR versions through a third-party software called VorpX, and (2) it has the option to
select or specify the difficulty level.
4.2. RESEARCH PROCEDURES
This research study was conducted in a university computer lab. The research
procedures are as follows: The subjects were asked to fill out a pre-study questionnaire to
capture their visual spatial imagery (see Table 4.1) and immersive tendencies (see Table
17
4.2) at the beginning of the experiment. They were then provided with training on the
game, Counter-Strike. An Xbox controller was used to control the game in both the
desktop-based and VR conditions. A cheat sheet that shows the basic commands of the
game was provided to the subjects (Appendix A). The subjects were given a 5-minute
training session to practice playing Counter-strike with the Xbox controller.
Next, based on the gaming condition assignment, the subjects completed a 5-
minute training session to practice playing Counter-strike with the specified console (i.e.,
desktop or VR) after it has been introduced to them (Appendix B or D). They then read
instructions about gaming session 1 (Appendix C or E), which is the first experimental
condition they were assigned to. They were then given 10 minutes to play the game in the
assigned condition (i.e., desktop or VR) and filled out a questionnaire after gaming
session 1. After the subjects completed gaming session 1 and the questionnaire that
followed, they were given a short break before completing a second training session of 5
minutes using a different console (i.e., desktop or VR) from the earlier training session.
After a short break, they were asked to read the instructions for the second training
session (Appendix B or D). . Next, they read the gaming instructions for gaming session
2 (Appendix C or E) and were given 10 minutes to play gaming session 2 using the
console. They also filled out a questionnaire after completing gaming session 2.
In short, some subjects were assigned to play the desktop version of the game
followed by the Oculus Rift version of the game, whereas other subjects were assigned to
the Oculus Rift version of the game followed by the desktop version of the game. After
playing each session, they filled out a questionnaire to assess their sense of social
presence, spatial presence, and intention to play. As indicated above, the Oculus Rift
