Exploring Viewing Modalities in Cinematic Virtual Reality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Challenges in Evaluating User Experience

Cinematic Virtual Reality (CVR) is a narrative-driven VR experience that uses head-mounted displays with a 360-degree field of view. Previous research has explored different viewing modalities to enhance viewers' CVR experiences. This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine how different viewing modalities, including intervened rotation, avatar assistance, guidance cues, and perspective shifting, influence CVR experiences. The study has screened 3444 papers (published between January 1, 2013, and June 17, 2023). Of the 3444 papers, 45 were selected for systematic review, 13 of the 45 papers were selected for meta-analysis. We separately conducted random-effects meta-analysis and applied Robust Variance Estimation to examine CVR viewing modalities and user experience outcomes. Evidence from experiments was synthesized as differences between standardized mean differences (SMDs) of user experience of control group (''Swivel-Chair'' CVR) and experiment groups. To our surprise, we found inconsistencies in the effect sizes across different studies, even with the same viewing modalities. Moreover, we found that in these studies, terms such as ''presence,'' ''immersion,'' and ''narrative engagement'' were often used interchangeably. We concluded that the quality of previous studies on CVR experiences was compromised by several methodological issues, including irregular use of questionnaires, overreliance on self-developed questionnaires, and incomplete data reporting. This study contributes to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research by identifying gaps in CVR research and emphasizing the need for standardization of terminologies and methodologies to enhance the reliability and comparability of future CVR research. © 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).