Differences on Presence and Reality Judgment Using a High Impact Workstation and a PC Workstation

The purpose of this study was to analyze differences in reality judgements made by subjects and their sense of presence when using the virtual reality (VR) settings of different VR workstations. The two workstations were (1) a high impact computer graphics workstation (Silicon Graphics) with a high quality head mounted display (FS5, Virtual Research) and a 3D joystick (Division) and (2) PC Pentium II-based platform with an AccelEclipse Graphical Card (AccelGraphics) with a medium quality head mounted display (V6, Virtual Research) and a 2D mouse. For measuring the sense of presence and reality, we used a 15-item questionnaire designed for this purpose that assesses the level of immersion and reality of the VR settings, availability of interaction with the VR environment, and emotions and bodily sensations experienced while immersed in the VR world. The subjects were 69 undergraduate students that volunteered for this study and were assigned at random to the two experimental workstations. Results indicated that there are no statistical differences in presence or reality judgment between both experimental conditions. This is an interesting finding because of the importance of reducing the cost of the equipment in the VR field.