Using event-related brain potentials to evaluate motor-auditory latencies in virtual reality

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Virtual Reality

Background:

• Real-world actions have immediate sensory feedback, but digital environments often introduce latency.
• Latency in virtual reality (VR) can impact user experience.
• Electroencephalography (EEG) offers an unobtrusive method to measure brain activity, specifically event-related potentials (ERPs), to assess user perception.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of system latency on user experience in VR using EEG.
• To determine if specific ERP components can serve as objective measures of perceived latency and immersion.

Main Methods:

• Participants (N=24) performed actions in a VR environment to trigger auditory events.
• System latency between action and auditory feedback was manipulated.
• EEG recorded brain activity, focusing on N1 and P2 components of ERPs, comparing self-generated vs. externally-generated sounds.

Main Results:

• N1 amplitude was reduced for self-generated sounds compared to externally-generated sounds.
• P2 amplitude showed a graded modulation with increasing latency, unlike N1.
• This dissociation suggests different neural mechanisms underlying the self-generation effect and latency perception.

Conclusions:

• The P2 component of event-related potentials is a promising neural marker for assessing the perceived immersiveness of digital environments.
• P2 amplitude can quantify the impact of system latency on user experience in VR.
• Findings contribute to understanding neural correlates of action-outcome prediction and sensory processing in interactive systems.