Remote VR Studies: A Framework for Running Virtual Reality Studies Remotely Via Participant-Owned HMDs

Radiah, Rivu; Makela, Ville; Prange, Sarah; Rodriguez, Sarah Delgado; Piening, Robin; Zhou, Yumeng; Kohle, Kay; Pfeuffer, Ken; Abdelrahman, Yomna; Hoppe, Matthias; Schmidt, Albrecht und Alt, Florian (2021): Remote VR Studies: A Framework for Running Virtual Reality Studies Remotely Via Participant-Owned HMDs. In: Acm Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, Vol. 28, No. 6, 46

Abstract

We investigate opportunities and challenges of running virtual reality (VR) studies remotely. Today, many consumers own head-mounted displays (HMDs), allowing them to participate in scientific studies from their homes using their own equipment. Researchers can benefit from this approach by being able to recruit study populations normally out of their reach, and to conduct research at times when it is difficult to get people into the lab (cf. the COVID pandemic). In an initial online survey (N = 227), we assessed HMD owners' demographics, their VR setups and their attitudes toward remote participation. We then identified different approaches to running remote studies and conducted two case studies for an in-depth understanding. We synthesize our findings into a framework for remote VR studies, discuss strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches, and derive best practices. Our work is valuable for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers conducting VR studies outside labs.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics > Computer Science
• Subjects: 000 Computer science, information and general works > 004 Data processing computer science
• ISSN: 1073-0516
• Language: English