Usability, sense of presence, and performance of a virtual reality emotion recognition task

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) has been proposed as a tool that could fulfill some of the limitations in emotion recognition (ER) assessment. Our research group created a VR task (VR-Tóol) for ER assessment. The aims of this study were to assess the usability, sense of presence, and acceptability of the VR-Tóol; to describe the performance of a VR-Tóol setup task and to examine the association between VR-Tóol performance and empathy. Forty-six healthy participants were assessed. A semi-structured interview, the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), the Cognitive and Affective Empathy Test (TECA), and the ICT Use Questionnaire (ICTUQ) were administered. Subsequently, a VR-Tóol protocol was applied. Finally, the System Usability Scale (SUS), Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ), and a Motivation Questionnaire were administered. The SUS total score showed acceptable parameters; the IPQ mean scores reached marginally acceptable scores in all subscales, excepting for the Involvement subscale, which achieved non-acceptable parameters. The SSQ indicated the presence of negligible symptoms related to the VR exposure. Regarding performance, participants achieved 83.3% hits. A substantial accuracy rate was met in contempt, admiration, happiness, surprise, and compassion. Significant positive correlations were observed between VR-Tóol hits and TECA’s Perspective taking (PT) score (Spearman’s rho = 0.500, p < .001) and Total score (Spearman’s rho = 0.398, p = .007). In conclusion, VR-Tóol exhibits favorable usability and sense of presence properties, negligible cybersickness symptoms, and an overall positive experience. We found evidence of the relationship between ER and empathy. This work elucidates the potential utility of VR-Tóol for ER assessment.