A study on presence quality and cybersickness in 2D, smartphone, and VR

Recent improvements in technology have increased the consumption of virtual reality (VR) contents on immersive displays. The VR experience depends on the type of displays as well as the quality of VR contents. However, research on the impacts of VR content quality on VR experience and comparisons among different types of immersive display devices are lacking. In this study, VR contents created with our VR framework, are provided to participants on conventional two-dimensional (2D) immersive displays and VR headset. The geometric alignment of VR contents is improved with the addition of two calibration modes (i.e. preprocessing and straightening). The subjective feelings of presence and cybersickness experienced by participants while consuming VR contents created by our framework and commercial solutions are recorded in the form of questionnaires. The results of this study indicate that the improvements in VR quality lead to a better presence and less cybersickness in both conventional 2D displays and VR headset. Furthermore, the level of presence and cybersickness increases in VR headsets as compared to conventional 2D displays. Finally, the VR content quality improvements lead to a better VR experience for our VR framework as compared to commercial solutions.