Facilitating Immersive VR Takeoff: The Critical Role of Valuable Experiences

Abstract

Immersive virtual reality (VR) has undergone several waves of technological advancement along with widespread attention; however, it has yet to achieve widespread popularity and become mainstream. In recent years, immersive VR has once again captured widespread attention due to the rapid evolution of immersive technologies and rising popularity of the Metaverse. However, immersive VR is still struggling to permeate the mainstream, as it has been before. One of the key obstacles that hinders the takeoff of immersive VR is the scarcity of standout immersive VR applications.

While there are numerous immersive VR applications, few have succeeded in delivering valuable experiences, thus rendering the adoption and usage of immersive VR less compelling or worthwhile. To address this issue, this thesis proposes that immersive VR applications should leverage the unique advantages of immersive VR to offer distinct and valuable immersive experiences that attract and retain users. Grounding in two dimensions of experiential value typology (i.e., extrinsic-intrinsic and active-reactive), this thesis identifies three types of valuable experiences, namely efficient experience, playful experience, and esthetic experience. Three empirical studies, each focusing on one of the three valuable experiences, are incorporated in this thesis to elaborate on how immersive VR’s unique features can be utilized to enhance valuable experiences from different perspectives.

The first study centers on the efficient experience that derives extrinsic value from users’ active participation. This study specifically examines users’ experiences of learning through immersive VR because such learning activities require mental effort and offer extrinsic value (e.g., knowledge acquisition). Building on the technology-mediated learning framework, affective and cognitive paths are identified to demonstrate how immersive VR features impact users’ learning outcomes through the mediation of their psychological learning processes (i.e., immersion, enjoyment, control and active learning, cognitive benefits, and reflective thinking). Specifically, this study explores whether immersive VR features (i.e., representational fidelity, immediacy of control, interactivity, and aesthetic quality) have a positive impact on users’ learning experiences and learning outcomes (i.e., learning motivation, effectiveness, and objective performance).

Intrinsic value, accompanied by enjoyment, is as important as extrinsic value in immersive VR experiences. The second study focuses on the playful experience that derives intrinsic value from users’ active participation. Given that users’ playful experiences facilitated by immersive VR are significantly influenced by their bodily control of virtual avatars, this study delves into the concept of embodiment, which describes how a user owns and controls an avatar’s body as if it is his physical body. After reconceptualizing embodiment, a research model is proposed, rooted in embodied cognition science and the interactionist theory of place attachment. The model suggests that embodiment increases user loyalty by enhancing users’ virtual world perceptions, cognitive absorption, and virtual world attachment. The findings together suggest that immersive VR can improve users’ playful experiences and attract users back by enabling users’ full-body interaction via avatars in virtual worlds.

Intrinsic value can be derived not only from users’ active participation but also from their reactive participation, including their appreciation and evaluation of stimuli, as investigated in the third study. The third study concentrates on the esthetic experience, where users derive intrinsic value from their reactive participation. Specifically, it investigates one type of esthetic experiences, namely the restorative experience, which describes the process of recovering from mental fatigue and stressful state. Immersive VR provides restorative experiences by offering realistic virtual natural environments and fully immersing users within them. Grounding in attention restoration theory and stress reduction theory, this study explores how restorative experiences are enhanced by technological features (i.e., embodied interactivity and environmental embeddedness) and users’ environmental perceptions (i.e., fascination, coherence, and compatibility), as well as how restorative experiences heighten users’ revisit intention. The results indicate the strengths of immersive VR in facilitating restorative experiences and elucidate the significance of these restorative experiences.

In summary, this thesis proposes three types of valuable experiences to engage users based on extrinsic-intrinsic and active-reactive dimensions of experiential value. The three empirical studies correspondingly examine how immersive VR provides and enhances such valuable experiences, including the efficient experience, playful experience, and esthetic experience. By applying and extending theories from diverse fields (e.g., education, cognitive science, and environmental psychology), this thesis theoretically contributes to the existing literature and provides a theoretical foundation for future immersive VR studies. From the practical perspective, this thesis also provides novel insights for practitioners to produce exceptional immersive VR applications by emphasizing the importance of virtual experiences and their influencing factors (e.g., virtual avatars and virtual worlds). This thesis offers theoretical and practical insights into the design of compelling applications by identifying uniquely valuable experiences that immersive VR can offer.

Date of Award	20 Nov 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Ayoung SUH (Supervisor) & Christian WAGNER (Supervisor)