Virtual reality as a research method: is this the future of photo-elicitation?

Abstract

Photo-elicitation is a method commonly employed by researchers attempting to answer questions about the relationship between our built environment and wellbeing. Despite the benefits of this method, there are limitations to the spatial, material and atmospheric understanding obtainable from a two-dimensional image. Given the increasing accessibility of virtual reality (VR) technology, this article reports results from a study that sought to understand whether VR could be the next logical step for researchers who currently employ photo-elicitation. 43 participants were shown the foyer and atrium space of a cancer treatment centre across three different mediums: photographs (14), a virtual environment (11) and a visit to the physical space (18). The variances between data quality obtained across these three experiences was analysed to evaluate the effectiveness of VR-interviews as an alternative to both photo-elicitation and walk-through interviews. While there is much excitement about the possibilities of VR as a visual research method, little research critically evaluates the data quality obtainable using this new technology relative to more traditional methods. Finally, the article provides recommendations for optimising VR for research, relative to enhancing participant engagement and data richness

Acknowledgements

This project was supported under a University of Melbourne Early Career Researcher Grant (CI: Rebecca McLaughlan). The author extends her appreciation to the architects - Silver Thomas Hanley, DesignInc and McBride Charles Ryan – for their generous provision of their CAD model, and to the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre for their support in allowing access to the foyer space. Gratitude is due to Jannette Le, Matt Greenwood and Mond Qu for their meticulous work on the virtual environments, and to Marcus White and Alan Pert for their support through the project conception and content creation phases. The author also thanks Stephanie Liddicoat and Stephen Yuen for their respective contributions as research assistants on this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2019.1680315.

Notes

[1] While costs of the primary study are difficult to calculate accurately owing to the architects’ provision of the original CAD model, the cost of content creation for the secondary study was $15,000 AUD. This included modelling, rendering and optimising for VR navigation three single storied buildings with an average floor area of 400 m2.

[2] ‘Out there’ is a colloquial term denoting that something is extreme or unusual.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Melbourne [Early Career Researcher Grant].

Notes on contributors

Rebecca McLaughlan

Rebecca McLaughlan is a Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Newcastle and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Her work spans both historic and contemporary healthcare care settings across the fields of mental health, paediatric health, palliative care and oncology. Rebecca was recently awarded a DECRA Fellowship from the Australian Research Council to study the design of contemporary inpatient settings for palliative care