Assessing User Experience and Cognitive Workload in Virtual Reality Digital Storytelling

Abstract

This article examines the user experience and cognitive workload in digital storytelling through immersive virtual reality (VR). Specifically, it explores the relationship between various aspects of the user experience and their link to the cognitive workload. The investigation was conducted by means of a large-scale evaluation of an underwater archaeological VR experience that simulated diving into the reconstructions of a submerged ancient site combined with interactive 360° video storytelling. The evaluation included 125 participants from two different geographical locations. Results revealed a strong interdependence between all user experience scales, including presence, immersion, engagement, emotional response, state of flow, subjective judgment, and technological adoption of the VR equipment. Moreover, the sense of presence in VR was strongly related to the reported task performance. The article highlights the importance of understanding the user experience and cognitive workload when creating digital storytelling applications in immersive VR.

Keywords:

• Virtual reality
• user experience
• cognitive workload
• digital storytelling
• cultural heritage

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by the i-MareCulture project (Advanced VR, iMmersive Serious Games and Augmented Reality as Tools to Raise Awareness and Access to European Underwater CULTURal heritagE, Digital Heritage) from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under [Grant 727153], in part by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (RISE-Call: H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2) under [Grant 739578], and in part by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Directorate General for European Programmes, Coordination, and Development.

Notes on contributors

Filip Škola

Filip Škola is a research associate at CYENS - Centre of Excellence in Nicosia, Cyprus. He received his PhD in Computer Science from the Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University in Czechia. His main research interests are virtual reality, perception of bodily ownership, physiological and brain-computer interfaces, and advanced human-computer interaction.

Dusanka Boskovic

Dusanka Boskovic is associate professor at the University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Her research interests and teaching are focused on software engineering in biomedical and cognitive domains. She is highly motivated to learn about the problem domain and committed to achieving high level user experience.

Selma Rizvic

Selma Rizvić is a Professor of Computer Graphics at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Sarajevo. In 2004 she founded the Laboratory for Computer Graphics - Sarajevo Graphics Group (SGG). It is a research group that specializes in the use of IT technologies for the presentation of cultural heritage.

Dimitrios Skarlatos

Dimitrios Skarlatos, is Associate Professor in Cyprus University of Technology. His main research interest is 3D reconstruction for Cultural Heritage objects, including underwater shipwrecks. More recently he is focusing in coastal mapping using optical bathymetry and drones, and underwater color restoration. He has coordinated iMARECULTURE a H2020 project.

Fotis Liarokapis

Fotis Liarokapis is an Associate Professor of Extended Experiences at CYENS - Centre of Excellence, Nicosia, Cyprus. He has contributed to more than 160 publications in the broad areas of virtual and augmented reality, serious games, computer graphics and brain computer interfaces. He is the general co-chair of Eurographics 2024.