Framework of Affordances for Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies continue to grow and present possibilities to change the ways we learn, accomplish tasks, and interact with the world. However, widespread adoption has continually languished below purported potential. We suggest that a more complete understanding of the underlying motives driving users to take advantage of VR and AR would aid researchers by consolidating fragmented knowledge across domains and by identifying paths for additional inquiry. Additionally, practitioners could identify areas of unmet motives for using VR and AR. To examine the motives for virtualization, we draw upon Gibson’s seminal work on affordances to create a framework of generalized affordances for virtually assisted activities relative to the affordances of physical reality. This framework facilitates comparison of virtualized activities to non-virtualized activities, comparison of similar activities across VR and AR, and delineates areas of inquiry for future research. The validity of the framework was explored through two quantitative studies and one qualitative study of a wide variety of professionals. We found that participants perceive a significant difference between physical reality and both VR and AR for all proposed affordances, and that for many affordances, users perceive a difference in the ability of AR and VR to enact them. The qualitative study confirmed the general structure of the framework, while also revealing additional sub-affordances to explore. Theoretically, this suggests that examining the affordances that differentiate these technologies from physical reality may be a valid approach to understanding why users adopt these technologies. Practitioners may find success by focusing development on the specific affordances that VR or AR is best equipped to enact.

Key words and phrases:

• augmented reality
• virtual reality
• technology affordances
• virtually assisted activities
• theoretical framework
• adoption motivations
• technology adoption

Notes

1. We note that 2 new affordances were suggested during the second round of coding, and one new affordance was suggested during the third round of coding. We consolidated the 2 new affordances into one, and we kept the third new affordance. These 3 new affordances were accounted for in our final selective codes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jacob H. Steffen

Jacob H. Steffen ([email protected]) is a doctoral student at the Terry College of Business at University of Georgia. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in information systems from Brigham Young University. His research focuses on virtual and augmented reality, wearable technologies, online review systems in the health industry, and the impact of digital interruptions. His work has been presented at the International Conference on Information Systems and the Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences.

James E. Gaskin

James E. Gaskin ([email protected]; corresponding author) is an Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Brigham Young University. He received his Ph.D. in MIS from Case Western Reserve University. His research interests include human computer/robot interaction, mixed reality, and research and teaching methodologies. Dr. Gaskin has published about 100 peer-reviewed articles published in top journals and conferences, including Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, and Journal of the AIS (JAIS), among others. He is an associate editor of JAIS and of Frontiers in Psychology.

Thomas O. Meservy

Thomas O. Meservy ([email protected]) is an Associate Professor of Information Systems at Brigham Young University. He graduated with his Ph.D. in Management from the University of Arizona. His research investigates how individuals consume information, especially for use in decision making. His work has been published in various journals including Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, and a wide variety of IEEE journals. Much of his research has been funded. He also holds a number of professional technical certifications.

Jeffrey L. Jenkins

Jeffrey L. Jenkins ([email protected]) is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at Brigham Young University. He has developed, extensively validated, and patented algorithms to detect deception, cognitive conflict, uncertainty, and emotional reactions while people are using electronic input devices. Dr. Jenkins’s research also explores methodologies for detecting and mitigating insider security threats. His work has been published in the top Information Systems and Computer Science journals, including Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, Journal of the AIS, and others.

Iopa Wolman

Iopa Wolman ([email protected]) is a recent graduate of the Master of Information Systems Management program at Brigham Young University. He contributed to the survey and experiment design used to validate the present framework. He will be applying to doctorate programs to start in the fall of 2020.