Factors of Immersion in Interactive Digital Storytelling

Abstract

This paper describes the design and implementation of a system suitable for conducting an experiment investigating the level of immersion in Virtual Reality storytelling content. In the study, participants had to play through a digital story of high quality using the head mounted display of the HTC Vive and its controllers. The story consisted of five scenes with different content that assume a different level of immersion and interactivity. During the experiment, participants had their heart rate measured by a wearable health tracker. In addition, the participants needed to answer subjective questionnaires regarding their experience of that particular scene. We investigated what subjective factors are contributing to experienced immersion and whether the level of immersion is related to the measured heart rate. We can show that different subjective dimensions are contributing the level of immersion experienced and that heart rate is reflecting the level of interactivity of an interactive digital story.