Who Are Virtual Reality Headset Owners? A Survey and Comparison of Headset Owners and Non-Owners

Thumbnail Image
Date
2021-05-10
Authors
Cherep, Lucia
Lim, Alex
Gilbert, Stephen
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Authors
Person
Kelly, Jonathan
Department Chair
Person
Gilbert, Stephen
Associate Professor
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Organizational Unit
Virtual Reality Applications Center
At VRAC, our mission is clear: “To elevate the synergy between humans and complex interdisciplinary systems to unprecedented levels of performance”. Through our exceptional Human Computer Interaction (HCI) graduate program, we nurture the next generation of visionaries and leaders in the field, providing them with a comprehensive understanding of the intricate relationship between humans and technology. This empowers our students to create intuitive and transformative user experiences that bridge the gap between innovation and practical application.
Organizational Unit
Psychology
The Department of Psychology may prepare students with a liberal study, or for work in academia or professional education for law or health-services. Graduates will be able to apply the scientific method to human behavior and mental processes, as well as have ample knowledge of psychological theory and method.
Organizational Unit
Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering
The Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering teaches the design, analysis, and improvement of the systems and processes in manufacturing, consulting, and service industries by application of the principles of engineering. The Department of General Engineering was formed in 1929. In 1956 its name changed to Department of Industrial Engineering. In 1989 its name changed to the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering.
Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Department
Virtual Reality Applications CenterPsychologyIndustrial and Manufacturing Systems EngineeringVirtual Reality Applications CenterGerontology
Abstract

The number of people who own a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) has reached a point where researchers can readily recruit HMD owners to participate remotely using their own equipment. However, HMD owners recruited online may differ from the university community members who typically participate in VR research. HMD owners (n=220) and non-owners (n=282) were recruited through two online work sites-Amazon's Mechanical Turk and Prolific-and an undergraduate participant pool. Participants completed a survey in which they provided demographic information and completed measures of HMD use, video game use, spatial ability, and motion sickness susceptibility. In the context of the populations sampled, the results provide 1) a characterization of HMD owners, 2) a snapshot of the most commonly owned HMDs, 3) a comparison between HMD owners and non-owners, and 4) a comparison among online workers and undergraduates. Significant gender differences were found: men reported lower motion sickness susceptibility and more video game hours than women, and men outperformed women on spatial tasks. Men comprised a greater proportion of HMD owners than non-owners, but after accounting for this imbalance, HMD owners did not differ appreciably from non-owners. Comparing across recruitment platform, male undergraduates outperformed male online workers on spatial tests, and female undergraduates played fewer video game hours than female online workers. The data removal rate was higher from Amazon compared to Prolific, possibly reflecting greater dishonesty. These results provide a description of HMD users that can inform researchers recruiting remote participants through online work sites. These results also signal a need for caution when comparing in-person VR research that primarily enrolls undergraduates to online VR research that enrolls online workers.

Comments

This is a manuscript of an article published as Kelly, Jonathan W., Lucia A. Cherep, Alex F. Lim, Taylor Doty, and Stephen B. Gilbert. "Who Are Virtual Reality Headset Owners? A Survey and Comparison of Headset Owners and Non-Owners." In 2021 IEEE Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), pp. 687-694. IEEE, 2021. DOI: 10.1109/VR50410.2021.00095. Posted with permission.

Description
Keywords
Citation
DOI
Copyright
Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2021
Collections