The Impact of Graphical Fidelity on Physiological Measures of Stress in a Virtual Reality Urban Environment
Authors
Christoffersen, Stephanie Ann ; Danielsen, Nicolai Laursen ; Sandkvist, Emil Otto
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2022
Submitted on
2022-05-25
Pages
53
Abstract
Walking in busy city areas can raise stress. Earlier virtual reality (VR) studies show that traffic-like scenes can trigger stress. This thesis asked how realistic VR graphics need to be to produce such responses. By graphical realism we mean the level of visual detail. We built two versions of the same virtual environment: one with detailed, high-fidelity visuals and one with simplified, low-fidelity visuals. Both versions included moving traffic and an arm-swinging method that lets users move forward without limits. We ran an experiment with two groups of 16 participants (one group per version), who followed the same route. The results show clear differences in visual realism and suggest that both VR environments can evoke stress levels similar to real life. However, we could not determine what caused the stress in our experiment, so the link between graphic realism and stress remains inconclusive.
At færdes i travle byområder kan øge stress. Tidligere studier i virtual reality (VR) viser, at trafiklignende scener kan udløse stress. Denne afhandling undersøgte, hvor realistisk VR-grafik skal være for at fremkalde sådanne reaktioner. Med visuel realisme menes graden af detaljer i grafikken. Vi byggede to versioner af det samme virtuelle miljø: en med detaljeret høj-fidelitet grafik og en med forenklet lav-fidelitet grafik. Begge versioner havde bevægelig trafik og en armsving-metode, der gør det muligt at bevæge sig fremad uden begrænsning. Vi gennemførte et forsøg med to grupper på 16 deltagere (én gruppe per version), som fulgte den samme rute. Resultaterne viser tydelige forskelle i visuel realisme og antyder, at begge VR-miljøer kan fremkalde stressniveauer, der ligner dem i virkeligheden. Vi kunne dog ikke fastslå, hvad der forårsagede stress i forsøget, så sammenhængen mellem grafikkens realisme og stress er fortsat uafklaret.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
Keywords