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My role and work:

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Project Owner / Researcher（July 2022 - October 2022）

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  • Determined research purposes:  Explored VFX as an interactive element in VR, elevating narrative, interactivity, and gameplay experiences for users. Created a "joy" questionnaire based on game experience surveys and VR immersive research
     

  • Identified a comprehensive research method: Through HCI research and commercial game research, Have a pre-survey of over 100 people, and Conducted individual interviews with nine experienced VR users aged 18-40.Gathered feedback through the "joy" questionnaire and interviews, employing SPSS for variance, correlation, and significance analyses
     

  • Independently completed the project design and development: Created multiplayer and single-player comparison VR projects using Unity VR toolkit and Jenga as a benchmark.
     

  • Key Finding: Identified factors influencing VR Joy, including VFX-induced motion sickness, realism in physics games, adaptation time, emptiness-triggered megalophobia, and enhanced multi-sensory interaction.

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Advisors: Dr. Jennifer George, Tara Collingwoode-Williams 

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Collaboration: Rachel Robertson (Faraday Institute, Cambridge University) within "Building for Joy in the Digital World" project

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Funding:  University of St Andrews' NViTA group

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Goal:  Explore the role of  VFX in  VR  Joyful  Experiences

Goal


This study aims to investigate the potential impact of virtual effects (VFX) on user satisfaction and pleasure in virtual reality (VR).

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  • Potential to enhance overall enjoyment and satisfaction

  • Enhancing narrative, interactivity, and gameplay

  • Resulting in a more immersive and engaging experience

Problem Statement

About
Problem Statement

  1. What are the key elements of VFX in VR?

  2. How complex should virtual environments be to make target users feel relaxed, especially on the postprocessing part?

  3. How to only measure the enjoyment in VR other than immersive (Federica Pallavicini, 2019)

VFX?

JOY?

Copy of Champagne and Black Simple Modern Design Thiking Process Information Graph (1).png
About
The process

User Research

1.Semi-Structured Interviews

01  “What are the key elements of  VR joy, especially in VFX ?

02 Interviewed  9 users from 18-40 age (previous experience with VR games and Video games.)



The ideal approach for the aimed qualitative data collection was semi-structured interviews by which the user would be encouraged to express themselves freely, without having to follow strict guidelines.

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  1. Visual effects enhance perceived reality in VR

  2. Particle effects, surface polishing, and improved lighting

  3. Realistic materials contribute to the immersive experience

  4. Fantasy, surrealism, and still dominate the preferred art style

​03  Questions （Based on Psychological concepts）

  1. (Definition) What do you understand by the term "VFX" in the context of virtual reality experiences?

  2. (Personal Experience) Can you share your experience with a VR game that you have played, focusing on the aspects you enjoyed and those that could be improved?

  3. (Cognitive Load) How have VFX contributed to your immersion and enjoyment of VR experiences without overwhelming you?

  4. (Perception) Based on your own VR experiences, can you share examples of effective and ineffective uses of VFX and how they affected your perception of the virtual world?

  5. (Groupthink) Have you noticed any trends in how VFX are used in VR experiences that you have tried, and how do you think this might be influenced by popular opinion within the industry or among users?

  6. (Gestalt Principles) In your opinion, how have VFX balanced with other design elements in the VR experiences you've had, considering how you perceive the virtual world as a whole?

  7. (Flow) What aspects of VFX in VR experiences that you've tried have helped maintain your engagement and flow while using the technology?

  8. (Cognitive Flexibility) Based on your own experiences, how do you think VFX could be used differently or improved in future VR experiences to better cater to users' adaptability and preferences?

  9. (Aesthetic-Usability Effect) When it comes to VFX in the VR experiences you've had, do you prefer the artistic or technical aspect, and how do you feel this preference impacts your overall experience?

  10. (Immersive Experience) Describe a moment when you felt truly immersed in a VR game you've played, and try to recall how the VFX played a role in creating that sense of immersion.

UX Research
Interview

​2.Interview Results

UX Research
Interview Results
VISUAL and Environment
​Empathize

Some users prefer a more realistic environment,

They feel  familiar 

Some users prefer a more Fantasy environment，


They are  Curious

INTERACTION

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User often don't realize they have touched the object，

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Due to the lack of haptic feedback

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Want clearer interaction feedback

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Consider using visual cues 

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Literature Research

Secondary Research

​01 Technical:

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Light:    Scene Transition,   Particles:   Guide
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02 Emotional:

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More Empathic Feelings
 
女孩和貓

VR technology may lend itself to arousing empathic feelings

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A scene transition using lighting VFX is used.


In <The Pirate Queen>, the space of each scene was made to be miniature in size and arranged around the viewer. In the previous scenes, the light particles used do not disappear and remain in motion, except for the light particles where the lights slowly turn off.

 

The audience naturally follows the particles and turns their heads.


As the particles move to another space, the lights in the space of the new scene are slowly switched on, and the particles disappear when the space is fully lit.

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  • Particles Guide

  • Lights transition as a trigger/Reward

 but not to improve understanding of others' mental states.

（Alison Jane Martingano, Fernanda Hererra, and Sara Konrath，2021）

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  • Self empathic feelings

  • cannot understand of others’ mental states

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​Define

​Define

​1.What is the VFX interaction

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From the interview and literature, I find out three types of VFX for interaction in VR.

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  • A VFX that provides the viewer with some sort of interaction guidance before the interaction,

  • a VFX that is used to confirm the interaction during the interaction,

  • a VFX that confirms the completion of the interaction after the interaction.

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What is vfx interaction

2.What is the joy of game

Some of the studies have examined elements (such as presence and ease of interaction) that influence the sense of pleasure within virtual spaces.

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Except for using the commonly used presence questionnaire(Slater et al., 2000, Slater et al., 1998, Slater et al., 1994)I drew on the part of the questionnaire on game evaluation which is more explicit on joy（WA IJsselsteijn et al.，2013)  as well as the visual analog scale (VAS) for Positive Emotions.

e7b18a1dc232f879420bfa8435f0e9c.png
​Define
What is the joy of game

Ideate 

Why jenga

What kind of VR jenga

​1.MoodBoard For Moderate VFX

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Why A/B Test


Based on my user research, I already have enough hypotheses and ideate
Set AB test can validate these hypotheses at the same time by random users.



A /B Test1： Multiple Play  vs Single Play  Moderate
 

Prototype
V1: Multipile play

Version1. Jenga Multiple player Game Mode Utilizing Normcore Plugin

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  • Use Multiple Version Aims to study pleasure differences between VR and real-life games

  • Incorporates particle feedback, interactive sounds, and surreal scenes/lighting

    ->outcome:
    The multiple play function is not stable enough to be quantified well for technical reasons, considering that the Jenga game interaction does not actually result in any player interaction with special effects.
     

  • Feedback from players that they don't realise they've touched a cube

    Removed the multiple play function in the second version
     

Ideate2
Moodboard

​MoodBoard For Vision 2  Advanced

​2.Sketch(basic to advanced)

A/B Test2：Prototype B Basic vs Advanced

Version2. Jenga single-player，VFX interaction
         

Prototype
V2: VFX interaction

  • Additions:
     

    • Outline shaders 

    • Particle feedback

    • Surreal scenes and lighting

    • Sounds for player interactions with block
       

  • Objective: Increase user enjoyment in terms of gameplay and aesthetics

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Hypothesis vs Result

Conclusion
Hypoyhesis vs Result

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-Baseline: Real Jenga Experience  " > " means Better than

 

Emotions

  • H1:Enjoyment： VFX Jenga ＞No VFX Jenga ＞Real Jenga 

  • R1:Enjoyment：No VFX Jenga ＞ VFX Jenga ＞Real Jenga p=0.022

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  • H2:Happiness : VFX Jenga ＞No VFX Jenga ＞Real Jenga

  • H3:Surprise : VFX Jenga ＞No VFX Jenga ＞Real Jenga

  • H4:Curiosity:VFX Jenga ＞No VFX Jenga ＞Real Jenga

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Others

  • H5:Interactive: VFX Jenga ＞No VFX Jenga ＞Real Jenga

  • R5:Interactive: Real Jenga＞VFX Jenga ＞No VFX Jenga p=0.034

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  • H6:Art： VFX Jenga ＞No VFX Jenga ＞Real Jenga

  • H7:Flow： VFX Jenga ＞No VFX Jenga ＞Real Jenga

  • H8:Presence: VFX Jenga ＞No VFX Jenga 

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Conclusion
 

Conclusion

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The study explores the relationship between virtual effects (VFX) and user enjoyment and interaction in virtual reality (VR).

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  1. VFX Significantly improve Presence Experience: Adding VFX can improve the VR gaming experience, particularly in terms of presence.

  2. Mostly, VFX makes the VR experience happier  Players rated VJ more positively than NVJ in terms of flow, art, surprise, happiness, and curiosity.

  3. Except for the Enjoyment of Body:VJ had a lower enjoyment score than VRN, possibly due to motion sickness from the interview.

  4. People Prefer Physical touch in Jenga Game: RJ scored higher than VJ and NVJ in terms of interaction, suggesting physical-based touch is more direct.

  5. VFX potentially improve VR interaction Experience:VFX has the potential to optimize the VR interaction experience.



-From Test

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  VFX can cause motion sickness affecting the user experience​

  • Lower enjoyment score for VJ compared to VRN, but higher than Baseline

    • Possible cause: motion sickness
       

  People are more than happy to play realistic physics games if the physics VR games are not highly simulated

  • Higher interaction score for RJ than VJ and NVJ

    • Physical-based touch is more direct

    • VR players may need time to adapt to VR


       

-From Interview
 

  • Excessive VFX increases the likelihood of motion sickness
     

  • Excessive emptiness in virtual environment can trigger megalophobia
     

  • Quality of interaction and multi-sensory interaction can enhance gameplay and increase player enjoyment

 
 
 
 
 
 
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