Effects of avatar character performances in virtual reality dramas used for teachers’ education

ABSTRACT

Virtual reality drama has the benefit of enhancing immersion, which was lacking in original e-Learning systems. Moreover, dangerous and expensive educational content can be replaced by stimulating users’ interest. In this study, we investigate the effects of avatar performance in virtual reality drama. The hypothesis that the psychical distance between virtual characters and their viewers changes according to the size of video shots is tested with an autonomic nervous system function test. Eighty-four college students were randomly assigned to three groups. Virtual reality drama is used to train teachers concerning school bullying prevention, and deals with the dialogue between teachers and students. Group 1 was provided with full-shot video clips, Group 2 was shown various clips from full shots to extreme close-ups, and Group 3 was provided with close-up shots. We found that the virtual reality drama viewers’ levels of stimulation changed in relation to the size of the shots. The R-R (between P wave and P wave) intervals of the electrocardiograms (ECGs, bio-signal feedback) became significantly narrower as the shot size became smaller.

KEYWORDS:

• Virtual reality
• virtual reality drama
• video shot size
• electrocardiogram (ECG)
• bio-signal feedback
• teacher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Pyoung Won Kim http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3621-9480

Yang Sook Shin http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7982-4712

Byoung Hoon Ha http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5873-1461

Marco Anisetti http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5438-9467

Notes

1. A heart rate is defined as beats per minute and corresponds to the number of R-R intervals per minute. Measuring R-R intervals has an advantage of monitoring the dynamic emotional state instantly compared to measuring the heart rate, which estimates the average number of R-R intervals per minute.

2. Neurocommunication research uses technologies such as fMRI to measure changes in activity in parts of the brain, electroencephalography to measure activity in specific regional spectra of brain response, and/or sensors to measure changes in viewers’ physiological states to learn exactly what message excites or disinterests the viewer.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Incheon National University Research Grant in 2014.