The Effects of Customisation on Player Experiences and Motivation in a Virtual Reality Game

There is a high demand for physical rehabilitation therapies: More than 475,000 Australian citizens are living with the effects of stroke and are engaged in physical therapies. Developing effective physical rehabilitation programs for these individuals is important both for their health outcomes and for the medical field. Virtual Reality (VR) technologies provide opportunities for improvements in this area. One of the opportunities is to create motivational rehabilitation processes for patients' persistence with their therapies. Using the theoretical framework of Self Determination Theory, this paper reports results from an experimental study (N=60) that tested a motivational design principle (i.e., functional and aesthetic customisation) on participants' player experiences in a VR game. The VR game has simple mechanics that share similarities with a type of upper body rehabilitation exercise; which has been validated as effective for the optimal restoration of scapular muscle imbalances. Findings from the study showed that customisation has a positive effect on players' experiences of autonomy need satisfaction and enjoyment in the VR game setting. These findings have implications that aid designers when designing motivational VR physical rehabilitation applications.