DrawingPresence: A Method for Assessing Temporal Fluctuations of Presence Status in a VR Experience

One of the main measures to evaluate a head-mounted display (HMD) based experience is the state of feeling present in virtual reality (VR). The detection of disturbances of such an experience that occur over time, namely breaks in presence (BIP), enables the evaluation and improvement of these. Existing methods do not detect BIPs, e.g., questionnaires, or are complex in their application and evaluation, e.g., physiological and behavioral measures. We propose a handy post-experience method in which users reflect on their experienced state of presence by drawing a line in a paper-based drawing template. The amplitude of the drawn line represents the state of presence of the temporal progress of the experience. We propose a descriptive model that describes temporal variations in the drawings by the definition of relevant points over time, e.g., putting on the HMD, phases of the experience, transition into VR, and parameters, e.g., the transition time. The descriptive model enables us to objectively evaluate user drawings and represent the course of the drawings by a defined set of parameters. Our exploratory user study (N = 30) showed that the drawings are very consistent between participants and the method is able to securely detect a variety of BIPs. Moreover, the results indicate that the method might be used in the future to evaluate the strength of BIPs and to reflect the temporal course of a presence experience in detail. Additional application examples and a detailed discussion pave the way for others to use our method. Further, they serve as a motivation to continue working on the method and the general understanding of temporal fluctuations of the presence experience.