Figure 1: "Exploring Virtual Reality" by fabola is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, click here
Virtual Reality (VR) as a research tool
Virtual reality (VR) is gaining momentum as a new technological innovation. Yet, in fact, it dates back to the early 60s. The initial concept has been proposed by computer scientists; Ivan Sutherland in 1960, followed by Jaron Lanier, who conducted the first VR experiments in 1987 and coined the term VR. “[Virtual reality] gives us this sense of being able to be who we are without limitation; for our imagination to become objective and shared with other people.” (Jaron Lanier, 1989). The next wave of VR development started in 2010, with the emergence of head-mounted devices (HMD). VR advancements are still ongoing with the development of haptic/tactile feedback, integration with Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. Commonly, VR is strongly associated with gaming, yet, it has been adopted in several fields from medical applications to familiarise doctors with new medical procedures to marketing applications such as virtual tourism. Lanier (1992) stated that providing a space for people to interact without the constraint of the physical world is one major goal behind VR development. Almost 30 years later, it is starting to happen. The emergence of VR social platforms (such as Meta Quest) is the new VR trend, enabling users’ interactions in virtual environment. Apparently, VR adoption has disrupted several fields and offers countless possibilities. So, what distinguishes VR from other technologies?
“VR is a medium for the extension of body and mind” (Biocca and Delaney, 1995)
Unlike traditional media such as television, VR is offering multisensory experience that extends beyond visual stimuli. VR medium provides a full range field of view that is constantly updated according to the users’ head movement. It can also integrate spatialised audio (i.e. the sound changes depending on the users’ actions and movements) which enhances users’ experience of realism and sense of presence. VR is referred to a” reality” and “unreality” simulator (Slater and Sanchez, 2016), due to its potential to recreate realistic and imaginary environments with multisensory experience.
VR’s unique affordance such as vividness, immersion, and interactivity provide an engaging and realistic users’ experience which can be an opportunity to examine social and psychological phenomenon. VR allows crafting a variety of environment from shopping malls to clinics and theatres. Hence, VR can serve as a research tool for social science experiments. Almost two decades ago, some scholars proposed VR as a methodological tool to study social sciences and psychology (Blascovich et al., 2002; Fox et al., 2009). A key advantage of a VR experimental approach is providing high experimental control (i.e noise, smell…etc). In experimental terms, it helps isolate the effect of specific variables and control for confounding variables. It can solve the longstanding dilemma between internal and external validity, in choosing between laboratory and field experiments. There is no need to trade-off “control-realism”, VR can provide a balance, through realistic design in a highly controlled environment.
Figure 2: "VR/AR/XR Headset" by Simon Waldherr is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, click here
VR adoption in social science experiments can also resolve another major methodological problem, which is replication. A major drawback of field experiments is the lack of exact replication of the experimental setting and stimulus. However, VR experiments are straightforward to replicate with high level of control. For example, in case of using confederate, in VR the stimulus would be computer-programmed and exactly replicated.Additionally, running experiments in VR can be cost and resource effective compared to field experiments. The VR equipment and hardware is becoming more and more accessible and affordable. Also, there is plenty of available information and educational resources about VR design such as coding tutorials, online learning environment and user-friendly software. VR experiments can also enhance the data collection process by automatically recording users’ responses or behaviour such as eye tracking (eye gaze information and fixation), head movement and gestures, which not only provides richer insights but also saves time and efforts for researcher (reduces bias in coding…etc).
Besides, VR can address the unrepresentative sampling problem in social science, as it is relatively easier to disseminate compared to other types of experiments. For example, it is easier to conduct the same VR experiment geographically with the same quality standards, however, some samples might still not be reached due to infrastructure requirements and unfamiliarity with VR technology. One should also acknowledge other limitations of VR experiments in terms of participants’ wellbeing as sometimes VR can cause dizziness and simulation sickness, and some scenarios might cause participants’ distress. Hence, it is vital to undertake ethical and risk assessments, like other research methods.
I personally used VR for experiment design, it was a challenging learning experience, as I’m not a computer scientist. However, it was possible through an interdisciplinary collaboration and self-learning. Thinking from a research methods perspective, VR can be both a medium and means; as communication medium that replicates a real-life environment such as a grocery store. VR can also be a means by itself to simulate “unrealistic” situations, that cannot happen in real-life. In other words, in the former case, VR serves as a medium to identify links between variables by controlling for other effects. The assumption is that VR by itself does not play a role in these relationships since all conditions are designed in the same VR settings. Whereas, the latter can rely on VR affordance as means to simulate “unrealistic” experiences. In that case, VR plays an indispensable role in the process and user experience which can be manifested in users’ motor experience and feeling of embodiment/body transfer…etc
On a final note, as social interactions in virtual environment are becoming an increasingly common practice. Hence, VR can simply be used to study human behaviour in virtual environments. VR’s potential to enhance research methods particularly experiments is undeniable. Yet, its use is still in its infancy and much more testing is required before making generalisation to real-world context (Pan & Hamilton, 2018).
Figure 3: "Friends trying on VR headsets - Credit to https://www.lyncconf.com/" by nodstrum is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, click here
References and additional readings
Blascovich, J., Loomis, J., Beall, A. C., Swinth, K. R., Hoyt, C. L., & Bailenson, J. N. (2002). Immersive virtual environment technology as a methodological tool for social psychology. Psychological inquiry, 13(2), 103-124.
Fox, J., Arena, D. and Bailenson, J.N., 2009. Virtual reality: A survival guide for the social scientist. Journal of Media Psychology, 21(3), pp.95-113.
Lanier, J. (2017). Dawn of the new everything: A journey through virtual reality. Random House.
Pan, X., & Hamilton, A. F. D. C. (2018). Why and how to use virtual reality to study human social interaction: The challenges of exploring a new research landscape. British Journal of Psychology, 109(3), 395-417.
Slater, M., & Sanchez-Vives, M. V. (2016). Enhancing our lives with immersive virtual reality. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 3, 74.
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