Exploring the Relative Effects of Body Position and Spatial Cognition on Presence When Playing Virtual Reality Games

Abstract

Previous research has suggested that cognitive functions such as execution, attention, memory, and perception differ when body position changes. However, the influence of body position on these cognitive functions is still not fully understood. In particular, little is known about how physical self-positioning may affect the cognitive process of perceptual responses in a virtual environment (VE). In this regard, we compared three body positions (standing, sitting, and half-sitting) in two types of virtual reality (VR) game with different degrees of freedom in navigation (finite and infinite) to explore the association between body position and the sense of presence in VEs. A two-way ANOVA yielded a main effect for body position, with the sense of presence significantly higher for a standing position than for a half-sitting position. However, there was no main effect for game type, nor was there an interaction between body position and game type. In addition, a one-way ANOVA revealed that, for the game with infinite navigation, participants in a standing position felt stronger presence than those who were sitting or half-sitting, whereas no significant difference was found between the sitting and half-sitting positions. In contrast, there was no statistical difference between the three body positions when playing the game with finite navigation. Taken together, it can be speculated that the cognitive effects of body position on presence are correlated with the degree of freedom in navigation in a VE.