Comparing the Performance of an Immersive Virtual Reality and Traditional Desktop Cultural Game.

The recent popularization and affordability of Head Mounted Display (HMD) Virtual Reality (VR) systems such as the Oculus Rift has accelerated the expansion of the application of these devices beyond entertainment. One of the targeted areas of expansion is in social interaction serious games where it has been often hypothesized that the immersion of HMD VR would increase the learning effectiveness of these systems. Despite this growth, few studies in the literature examine the effectiveness of these types of games in HMD VR as compared to more traditional desktop systems. This study evaluates the performance difference between a traditional desktop version and an HMD VR version of a cultural serious game designed to teach U.S. Army soldiers how to communicate competently with Chinese soldiers in a joint humanitarian mission. The study found no performance difference between participants who played the desktop or the HMD VR version of the game. The study did find a strong positive interaction correlation between gender and participants who played the HMD VR version of the game. These findings motivate further research into why this correlation exists and if, through game design, can also be instilled in female participants.