Virtual Reality: How Much Immersion Is Enough?

Solid evidence of virtual reality's benefits has graduated from impressive visual demonstrations to producing results in practical applications.

Overview

Authors: Doug A. Bowman, Ryan P. McMahan

Publication Date: 13 August 2007

Link: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4287241

Keywords: 3D visualization, virtual reality, immersion

Type: Peer-Reviewed Journals/White Papers

Summary

Solid evidence of virtual reality's benefits has graduated from impressive visual demonstrations to producing results in practical applications. Further, a realistic experience is no longer immersion's sole asset. Empirical studies show that various components of immersion provide other benefits - full immersion is not always necessary. The goal of immersive virtual environments (VEs) was to let the user experience a computer-generated world as if it were real - producing a sense of presence, or "being there," in the user's mind.