Measuring Presence in Virtual Environments: A Presence Questionnaire  (1998)


  Presence is defined as the subjective experience of being in one place or environment, even when one is physically situated in another. As applied to a virtual environment (VE), presence refers to experiencing the computer-generated environment rather than the actual physical locale. Then, what factors influence presence? what aspects of the VE or remote environment affect how much presence is experienced?  


  Presence in a VE depends on one's attention shifting from the physical environment to the VE, but does not require the total displacement of attention from the physical locale. Humans experience varying degrees of presence in a physical locale since the human attention is divided between the physical world and the mental world. How sharply users focus their attention on the VE partially determines the extent to which they will become involved in that environment and how much presence they will report. 


1. Attention


  According to Fountaine (The experience of a sense of presence in intercultural and international encounters, 1992), presence depends on a matter of focus. When experiencing a novel environment, people are generally more aroused and broadly focused on the tasks to be performed or the situation to be experienced. Fountaine (1992) claims that this broad focus enables the individual to be broadly aware of the entire task environment and argue that the broad focus is necessary for a high level of presence in VEs. 


  An alternate view is that the experience of presence in a VE may have aspects similar to the concept of selective attention. Selective attention refers to the tendency to focus on selected information that is meaningful and of particular interest to the individual. 


2. Involvement


  Involvement is a psychological state experienced as a consequence of focusing one's energy and attention on a coherent set of stimuli or meaningfully related activities and events. In general, as users focus more attention on the VE stimuli, they become more involved in the VE experience. 


3. Immersion 


  Immersion is a psychological state characterized by perceiving oneself to be enveloped by, included in, and interacting with an environment that provides a continuous stream of stimuli and experiences. Factors that affect immersion include isolation from the physical environment, the perception of self-inclusion in the VE, natural modes of interaction and control, and perception of self-movement. A VE that effectively isolates users from their physical environment, thus depriving them of sensations provided by that environment, will increase the degree to which they feel immersed in the VE.


4. Presence 


  Both involvement and immersion are necessary for experiencing presence, and involvement in a VE depends on focusing one's attention and energy on a coherent set of VE stimuli. Fully immersed observers perceive that they are interacting directly, not indirectly or remotely, with the environment.
 

 

Posted by Cat.IanKang
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