The effect of third-person VR, both in terms of visual and audio feedback, on decentering

What is it about?

We created a virtual reality application that presents a basic interaction to start and a body-scan mindfulness exercise. This application was created with three experimental conditions: first-person (which is the "standard" for current virtual reality) and two with visual third-person where the audio feedback is heard from either the in-game camera location (aural first-person) or from the avatar location (aural third-person). We hypothesised that the third-person conditions would lead to a greater sense of decentering from one's thoughts and sensations, i.e., a reduced reactivity. However, our results did not support this hypothesis.

Featured Image

Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash

Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash

Why is it important?

We explore the concept of first- and third-person perspective in virtual reality not only in terms of visual feedback, but also aural feedback. By widening the scope of how perspective can be used in virtual reality, we hope to diversify design approaches for virtual reality applications. We also explore the effect of these conditions in terms of mindfulness constructs, which is gaining traction as a use-case for virtual reality.