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Measuring presence in augmented environments

“Presence” is the conceptual measure of a user’s feeling of immersion and involvement within a technologically-mediated environment. The greater the presence and the less external mediation a user feels, the more the experience approaches “reality.” Many varied factors contribute to presence – including interactivity, ease of use, length of exposure, visual realism and social experience (Kizelshteyn, 2008) – but I would posit that a proper cocktail of all of these is necessary to create a truly engaging environment. For example, there is a certain “x-factor” shared by many successful computer games that surely relates to a high degree of presence experienced by its players. In short, if there can be only ONE benchmark of how successfully virtual world and augmented reality technology will develop and enter the mainstream, it is presence.

The Augmented Environments Lab at Georgia Tech is taking a novel approach to measuring presence by analyzing user’s physiological responses to a rational fear of heights. Subjects were required to perform certain tasks around a created deep virtual pit, which, as one can see, appears to be quite realistic. Meanwhile, the subjects’ heart rate, galvanic skin response and skin temperature were measured. The results of the study aren’t in yet, but I would bet they were positive; our brains, upon perceiving visible danger, wouldn’t take any chances and unwittingly kick-start our sympathetic system right away! Also, the subjects seem pretty convinced and apprehensive in the video – check it out.

It’s also interesting to note that this exact simulation can easily be ported to help treat patients with acrophobia (fear of heights) via exposure therapy. In fact this has been tried multiple times in the last decade, but the technological advancements developed by the lab, which lead to a greater sense of presence, will surely prove more fruitful than previous attempts using older VR technology or simply using virtual worlds.

[Georgia Tech Augmented Environments Lab], via [Games Alfresco]