NotifiVR: Exploring Interruptions and Notifications in Virtual Reality

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Virtual Reality
• User Experience Design

Background:

• Room-scale virtual reality (VR) is becoming more accessible, but current systems lack standardized notification management.
• Immersive VR experiences can lead users to miss critical digital, physical, or temporal events.
• Effective notification systems are needed to balance immersion with real-world awareness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate user needs and preferences for notifications in virtual reality.
• To explore and evaluate different methods for delivering notifications within VR environments.
• To provide design recommendations for future VR notification systems.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a survey with 61 VR users to identify common interruption scenarios.
• Engaged VR professionals in a design exercise to brainstorm notification methods.
• Performed an empirical study evaluating 5 interruption scenarios across 6 sensory modalities (audio, visual, haptic, and combinations) using HTC Vive.

Main Results:

• Identified specific digital, physical, and temporal scenarios where VR users require notifications.
• Assessed the noticeability and perception of various notification modalities and combinations.
• Gathered user feedback on the effectiveness and intrusiveness of different notification approaches.

Conclusions:

• Effective VR notification design requires careful consideration of modality, context, and user experience.
• Multimodal notifications (e.g., audio + haptic) show promise for enhancing awareness without breaking immersion.
• Recommendations are provided for developing user-centered notification systems in virtual reality.