Experiencing Simulated Confrontations in Virtual Reality

The use of virtual reality (VR) to simulate confrontational human behaviour has significant potential for use in training, where the recreation of uncomfortable feelings may help users to prepare for challenging real-life situations. In this paper we present a user study (n=68) in which participants experienced simulated confrontational behaviour performed by a virtual character either in immersive VR, or on a 2D display. Participants reported a higher elevation in anxiety in VR, which correlated positively with a perceived sense of physical space. Character believability was influenced negatively by visual elements of the simulation, and positively by behavioural elements, which complements findings from previous work. We recommend the use of VR for simulations of confrontational behaviour, where a realistic emotional response is part of the intended experience. We also discuss incorporation of domain knowledge of human behaviours, and carefully crafted motion-captured sequences, to increase users' sense of believability.