About this Research Topic
Virtual Reality (VR) Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) have brought significant changes in how we interact with virtual content and have opened the door for innovation applications in diverse fields. Two important application scenarios are training and entertainment. Many of these scenarios involve an evaluation of the user’s feelings and actions. Assessing the users’ status aids the application to work correctly and improves its efficiency. These assessments can be crucial both for the adequate response of and within virtual environments and for our understanding of how the virtual environment is affecting the user. Even if measurement and representation of human behaviour are critical, representing human behaviour is not a trivial task, and neither is measuring it.
Accurately measuring, representing and affecting the human expression of emotions and behaviour in virtual environments is a difficult task that necessitates considering a number of factors, including culture, health, gender, age, social status, user behaviour and dynamic emotions. These factors influence the appropriate response to the user's feelings and actions and correctly presenting them accurately is critical. Moreover, it is plausible that some of the models that have been defined so far for affective computing on standard monitors might not apply to VR HMD scenarios.
Because of the complexity of representing and measuring these human factors, no consensus has been reached on how to do it. Thus, in this topic collection, we are calling for articles that will help us
delineate measurements in affective computing in VR. Be it through the use of software or hardware tools, applications or models.
Aim: This special issue aims to bring high-quality articles that explore affective computing challenges and measurements associated with VR from a multidisciplinary perspective.
Scope: Specific areas of interest within the scope of this special issue include but are not limited to:
- User Body language in VR
- VR Social Agents
- Psychophysiological Measurements in VR
- Mapping of sensations and emotions in VR
- Questionnaires to analyze affective responses for use in VR interactions
- Haptic feedback in affective VR
- Software tools to prototype VR social agent’s expressions of emotion
- Studies on the effect of VR social agent’s expressions on human behaviour and affective states
Questions that are explored include: What feelings, sensations, and emotions can we infer based on the psychophysiological signal measured in VR? Can we infer satisfaction or discomfort with the
environment or the social agent based on metrics measured from the HMD? How do the facial expressions of social agents affect VR Experiences? Are these effects long or short-term? How can we model them? Can we use haptic feedback to assist in the interpretation of social agents’ expressions of emotion? How do these agents interact with other characteristics of the virtual environment (e.g., task difficulty, lighting, and field of view)? Are affective non-humanoid social agents useful in certain social training scenarios?
We welcome original research studies and systematic design, idea, and/or protocol studies; as well as scoping reviews on the above topics that advance the understanding of how best to design and
implement immersive VR applications and VR social agents.
Accurately measuring, representing and affecting the human expression of emotions and behaviour in virtual environments is a difficult task that necessitates considering a number of factors, including culture, health, gender, age, social status, user behaviour and dynamic emotions. These factors influence the appropriate response to the user's feelings and actions and correctly presenting them accurately is critical. Moreover, it is plausible that some of the models that have been defined so far for affective computing on standard monitors might not apply to VR HMD scenarios.
Because of the complexity of representing and measuring these human factors, no consensus has been reached on how to do it. Thus, in this topic collection, we are calling for articles that will help us
delineate measurements in affective computing in VR. Be it through the use of software or hardware tools, applications or models.
Aim: This special issue aims to bring high-quality articles that explore affective computing challenges and measurements associated with VR from a multidisciplinary perspective.
Scope: Specific areas of interest within the scope of this special issue include but are not limited to:
- User Body language in VR
- VR Social Agents
- Psychophysiological Measurements in VR
- Mapping of sensations and emotions in VR
- Questionnaires to analyze affective responses for use in VR interactions
- Haptic feedback in affective VR
- Software tools to prototype VR social agent’s expressions of emotion
- Studies on the effect of VR social agent’s expressions on human behaviour and affective states
Questions that are explored include: What feelings, sensations, and emotions can we infer based on the psychophysiological signal measured in VR? Can we infer satisfaction or discomfort with the
environment or the social agent based on metrics measured from the HMD? How do the facial expressions of social agents affect VR Experiences? Are these effects long or short-term? How can we model them? Can we use haptic feedback to assist in the interpretation of social agents’ expressions of emotion? How do these agents interact with other characteristics of the virtual environment (e.g., task difficulty, lighting, and field of view)? Are affective non-humanoid social agents useful in certain social training scenarios?
We welcome original research studies and systematic design, idea, and/or protocol studies; as well as scoping reviews on the above topics that advance the understanding of how best to design and
implement immersive VR applications and VR social agents.
Keywords: Affective computing, Virtual Reality, HCI, Emotion mapping, Perception Enhancement, Simulation, Realism, Psychophysiological
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
