A Virtual Reality Implementation of the Trier Social Stress Test Using Head-Mounted Displays

Høngaard, Jens Stokholm ; Thomsen, Andreas Møller ; Christensen, Patrick Mark Houmann

4. term

Medialogy, Master

2016

2016-05-25

44

Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) er en standardiseret metode til at fremkalde socialt stress: Deltagere holder en præsentation for et ukendt panel og udfører andre øvelser. En tidligere virtuel TSST gennemført i en CAVE (en specialiseret og kostbar VR-installation) var en succes, men en enklere løsning var ønsket. Derfor blev en version med head-mounted displays (HMD’er) efterspurgt. En udfordring ved HMD’er er, at man ikke kan se sine egne hænder eller omgivelserne. Det gør det sværere at indsamle spytprøver, som bruges til at måle stress via kortisol (et stresshormon). Prøvetagningen kræver, at deltageren tygger på en vatpind i mindst 10 sekunder, hvilket kan være vanskeligt, når man ikke kan se den virkelige verden. Vi gennemførte et eksperiment, hvor vi sammenlignede tre metoder til at tage spytprøver, mens deltagerne bar et HMD. I stedet for vatpinde brugte vi stykker slik med tilsvarende form som erstatning. Alle resultater pegede på, at en metode uden hjælp fra en facilitator gav det bedste udfald.

The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is a standardized way to induce social stress: participants give a presentation to an unfamiliar panel and complete other tasks. A previous virtual TSST carried out in a CAVE (a specialized and costly VR facility) was successful, but a simpler approach was needed. As using a CAVE is expensive, a version using head-mounted displays (HMDs) was requested. A key challenge with HMDs is that people cannot see their own hands or surroundings. This complicates collecting saliva samples, which are used to measure stress via cortisol (a stress hormone). Sampling requires participants to chew on a cotton swab for at least 10 seconds, which can be difficult when they cannot see the real world. We conducted an experiment comparing three methods for taking saliva samples while wearing an HMD. Instead of cotton swabs, we used similarly shaped pieces of candy as stand-ins. Our results indicate that a method without facilitator assistance worked best.

[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]

Trier social stress test ; TSST ; Virtual Reality ; VR ; HMD ; Optitrack ; Oculus Rift

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