Impact of tasks and users' characteristics on virtual reality performance

A better understanding of how users perform virtual reality (VR) tasks may help build better VR interfaces. In this study, we concentrated on the compensatory behavior in VR depending on the tasks and users' characteristics. The tasks characteristics considered were display size (large display vs. desktop monitor) and tasks types (manipulation and travel). The users' characteristics studied were the visual attention abilities and users' satisfaction. Ninety-five subjects participated in the experimentation composed of two parts: the first one consisted in cognitive tests used to evaluate visual attention abilities, and the second one was based on a set of VR tasks. Our result showed that large displays positively affect on performance for some kinds of VR tasks. Moreover, this impact was linked to users' satisfaction and visual attention abilities. Indeed, users with low-level attention abilities and users who preferred the large display took more advantage of large displays. We concluded that large displays can be considered cognitive aids depending on the tasks and users' characteristics.