This is a loosely organized list of things I've noticed while using and developing virtual reality applications for the smartphone-in-headset form factor. It is specific to my experience and may not reflect anyone else's personal preference, such that VR is apparently quite dependent on preference. But I think that steadfast rules of design are necessary for the impending VR bubble, to convey an aesthetic and unified design such that users may expect certain, common idioms and adapt to VR software quickly. Thus, this is list a roadmap of my current aesthetic for VR. It is a living document, in the sense that future experiences may invalidate assumptions I have made and force me to recognize more universal truths. Proceed with caution.
[/font][/color]- Presence is the ability to feel like you are in the scene, not just viewing a special screen. You'll hear a lot of people talk about it, and It is important, but ultimately I believe it to be a descriptor of an end result, a combination of elements done well. There is no one thing that makes "presence", just as there is no one thing that makes an application "intuitive", "user friendly", "elegant", or "beautiful". They either are or they are not, and it's up to the individual experiences of the users to determine it.
- Presence is a double-edged sword. [font=inherit]
I've found that, once I feel "present" in the application, I also feel alone, almost a "ghost town" feeling. Even if the app has a single-user purpose, it seems like it would be better in an "arcade" sort of setting. To be able to see other people may help with presence.
fervently
Be maximally accessible.
Make the application useful. This seems like it shouldn't be said, but ask yourself what would happen if you were to rip out the "VR" aspect of the application and have people use it with traditional IO elements. Treat the VR aspect of it as tertiary. Presence by its very definition means forgetting about the artifice of the experience. If the experience is defined by its VR nature, then it is actively destroying presence by reveling in artifice.
Much research needs to be done on user input especially for large amounts of text. Typing on a keyboard is still the gold standard of text entry, but tying the user to the keyboard does not make for the best experience, and reaquiring a spatial reference to the keyboard after putting the headset on and moving away from the keyboard is nearly impossible. Too often, I find myself reaching completely behind in the wrong direction.
3D Audio is essential. We could mostly get away without audio in 2D application development, but in VR it is a significant component to sensing orientation and achieving presence. I believe it works by giving us a reference to fixed points in space that can always be sensed, even if they are not in view. Because you always hear the audio, you never lose the frame of reference.
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Interesting notes. With regard to presence creating a feeling of isolation, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I agree that it's worth looking at ways that it can be managed (try very low, continuous white noise, especially using indistinct voices) for cases when you don't want it, but in cases where VR is simply being used as an interface, the feeling of being around other people may be distracting. For instance, if I'm visiting a virtual mall then I want to feel like there are other people around me, but if I'm using a virtual store interface I want to have that solo experience. It may be that this is also a matter of preference. Some people panic when they feel isolated, some people relax when they feel isolated. It may be that allowing the user to tune compensatory behavior is the best route for now.