The Effects of Immersion and Dimensionality in Virtual Reality Science Simulations: The Case of Charged Particles

Researchers have provided insights into using virtual reality (VR) for visualization and interaction with 3D models and simulations. The interaction allows users to manipulate the 3D elements and visualize changes based on their inputs from movement with controllers or spatial actions. However, some users may find this interaction overwhelming, especially when immersed in a virtual environment. Additionally, the choice of dimensionality for visualizations influences user interaction, with potential implications for immersive experiences. Thus, we conducted a 2 (Immersion: Desktop vs. HMDVR) $\times 2$ (Dimensionality: 2 D vs. 3 D) within-group study $(N=32)$ to explore the impact of the utilized immersive degree and the dimensionality representation of the content on participants’ experience in terms of engagement, task load, usability, skill, and emotions when interacting with a science simulation. We designed and developed an application to simulate charged particles and electric field lines. We asked participants to complete a task of changing particles by matching them to a given simulation output. Our results indicated higher workload rates for HMDVR conditions, particularly with 3D representation, compared to Desktop. However, HMDVR conditions also showed greater engagement, emotional response, and presence. Based on our findings, we argue that participants prefer HMDVR over Desktop environments regardless of dimensionality.

1 Introduction

Immersive technologies are currently trending worldwide, with numerous efforts underway to promote their adoption in daily life. Advanced head-mounted displays (HMDs) and similar products are available in the market, diminishing concerns regarding their feasibility. Consequently, the rising demand for mixed, virtual, and augmented reality applications for entertainment, training, and learning drives the development of more engaging applications and experiences [37], [73]. In virtual reality (VR) application design, selecting the interaction paradigm can influence the degree of immersion in the environment [26]. Johnson-Glenberg [33] has defined different principles and has suggested practical approaches for designing immersive virtual environments, aligning with exploiting users’ agency to interact with the virtual environment, thus empowering them to orchestrate their actions and outcomes. However, not all principles are suitable for all solutions. In education, immersive VR can increase processing demands on working memory and decrease knowledge acquisition, compared to conventional media [47]. Users can feel VR cumbersome in entertainment due to the possible cybersickness [61]. In training, the fidelity of the replication in some conditions could affect users’ presence and hinder their performance for real-world simulated tasks [49]. Therefore, when designing VR interfaces, the included features and the chosen immersive level are crucial factors to consider depending on the expected outcome, where not all features are needed depending on the purpose of the experience. Figure 1:

We developed an interactive VR simulation of charged particles where participants can manipulate the particle position and explore the corresponding fields.