Affective Impact of Social Presence in Immersive 3D Virtual Worlds

The recent release of affordable head mounted displays (HMDs) foretells a near future where a variety of social interactions could be taking place in VR environments. There is little knowledge however as to how actual social conditions impact users during a virtual experience. We investigate this issue by placing 54 individuals into a virtual clothing store and having them witness the exposure of their avatar's naked virtual body, being either alone or in the presence of a virtual salesman. Our results indicate that a second character does not affect levels of presence and body ownership illusion, but does cause a strong emotional response, thus suggesting that social context and social presence affectively impact users.