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The Influence of Personalized Music on Sense of Presence, Motivation, and Player Experience in Virtual Reality

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Serious Games (JCSG 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14309))

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Abstract

The sense of presence, characterized by the feeling of “being there,” plays a crucial role in virtual reality (VR) to enhance involvement and engagement. While previous studies have examined the effects of sound or music on presence by manipulating auditory cues, little research has explored the effects of personalized music within virtual environments. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate the influence of personalized music on the sense of presence, motivation, player performance, time perception, and cybersickness. In a within-subjects design, 21 participants engaged in a VR strategy game under three randomized conditions: hearing (1) sound effects only without background music, (2) the original game music, and (3) personalized music, individually chosen by each participant. The results reveal that personalized music significantly contributes to a higher sense of presence compared to the condition with sound effects only, however with no significant difference between both music conditions. The results further show that participants are significantly more motivated when exposed to personalized music compared to the original game music. These findings provide valuable insights into how personalized music, synchronized with the gameplay elements, can enhance the sense of presence, motivation, and overall player experience within VR environments. Further investigations are necessary to examine the specific effects of personalized music within different VR games.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been conducted in cooperation between the Serious Games research group at TU Darmstadt and the startup Randalyn Rage. It was partially funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action under The EXIST Business Start-up Grant “KaiparaAdVRenture” (Grant Number: 03EGSHE226).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Serious Games Research Group, Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

    Polona Caserman, Sebastian Rudolf Da Brandt Costa & Stefan Göbel

  2. Randalyn Rage UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Kitzingen, Germany

    Michelle Martinussen

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  1. Polona Caserman
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  2. Sebastian Rudolf Da Brandt Costa
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  3. Michelle Martinussen
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  4. Stefan Göbel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Polona Caserman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Mads Haahr

  2. University of Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica

    Alberto Rojas-Salazar

  3. TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

    Stefan Göbel

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Caserman, P., Da Brandt Costa, S.R., Martinussen, M., Göbel, S. (2023). The Influence of Personalized Music on Sense of Presence, Motivation, and Player Experience in Virtual Reality. In: Haahr, M., Rojas-Salazar, A., Göbel, S. (eds) Serious Games. JCSG 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14309. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44751-8_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44751-8_14

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-44751-8

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