British Journal of Psychology· 2018Q1
Why and how to use virtual reality to study human social interaction: The challenges of exploring a new research landscape
- 727citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2018year
Short summary
Virtual reality (VR) offers psychologists enhanced experimental control and ecological validity, but presents challenges like simulation sickness and the 'uncanny valley'.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- VR offers psychologists improved experimental control and ecological validity.
- Novice VR users face challenges including embodiment, the 'uncanny valley', simulation sickness, presence, ethics, and experimental design.
- The development of a fully interactive virtual human passing a VR Turing test is identified as a major future challenge.
- Achieving this goal necessitates interdisciplinary collaboration among psychologists, VR technologists, and AI researchers.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
As virtual reality (VR) technology and systems become more commercially available and accessible, more and more psychologists are starting to integrate VR as part of their methods. This approach offers major advantages in experimental control, reproducibility, and ecological validity, but also has limitations and hidden pitfalls which may distract the novice user. This study aimed to guide the psychologist into the novel world of VR, reviewing available instrumentation and mapping the landscape of possible systems. We use examples of state-of-the-art research to describe challenges which research is now solving, including embodiment, uncanny valley, simulation sickness, presence, ethics, and experimental design. Finally, we propose that the biggest challenge for the field would be to build a fully interactive virtual human who can pass a VR Turing test - and that this could only be achieved if psychologists, VR technologists, and AI researchers work together.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. British Journal of Psychology, 2018 · DOI ↗
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Field: Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Computer InteractionComputer Science