Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Virtual reality (VR) is currently gaining momentum as a consumer-level technology. However, various open research issues must be addressed, particularly with respect to user interfaces and usability before it becomes more successfully widespread. This research program focuses on the development of a user interface and a framework for usability assessment in VR serious games through user metrics. User metrics include parameters associated to: i) the effects of the physical environment during VR interactions, ii) the high variability of users during testing (e.g., age, gender, expertise, health conditions), iii) the continuous development of VR hardware, iv) possible influence and interference of hardware during immersion, and v) the lack of VR standardized usability evaluations, which has seen the use of traditional usability questionnaires (e.g., System Usability Scale, Questionnaire of User Satisfaction, Software Usability Measurement Inventory, and Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire amongst others), which may not convey proper assessments given the unique interactions occurring in virtual scenarios (e.g., locomotion and body gestures). The proposed research program will lead to: i) a greater understanding of VR usability to develop a body of knowledge and tools for VR interaction design and development, ii) the development of a novel VR user interface and usability framework that allows integrating physiological data with usability questionnaires and heuristics. iii) development of a technique to correlate the usability questionnaire and heuristics with the physiological VR interaction data, and iv) a set of guidelines and best practices for VR usability that designers, developers, and enthusiast may employ to design usable VR experiences. The proposed research program will also an impact in the VR community as the current employment of consumer-level VR hardware and software development tools, has resulted in the availability of numerous one-size-fits-all solutions lacking proper VR design and assessment, and this will negatively affect the widespread application of VR. Collectively, the proposed research program will result in a path to develop a more effective and comprehensive user interface and framework for the design, assessment and evaluation of VR interactions. The results of this research may positively impact Canadian Government initiatives oriented at inclusion through innovation where VR plays an important role to provide safe, controlled, and monitored experiences with learning, training, social inclusion, and entertainment applications, amongst others. Additionally, the growth of the VR market is considered to have a major impact since VR is being acknowledged as the fourth industrial revolution by the World Economic Forum.