research-article

A study of visual perception: social anxiety and virtual realism

Authors:

Silvester Czanner,

Gabriela Czanner,

John PowellAuthors Info & Claims

SCCG '09: Proceedings of the 25th Spring Conference on Computer Graphics

Pages 167 - 172

https://doi.org/10.1145/1980462.1980495

Published: 23 April 2009 Publication History

Abstract

Virtual reality exposure therapy offers the possibility of tackling social anxiety in an efficient, safe and controlled manner. A key question, however, is what is the level of realism required in virtual environments to ensure the environment is effective in helping the participant to deal with their anxiety. One concern which affects a lot of people from all walks of life is the fear of a job interview. In this paper we investigate the relationship between anxiety and varying levels of realistic fidelity. We recruited 60 volunteers and studied their anxiety levels via randomised block design, where each block was exposed to a different level of fidelity of the virtual avatars: realistic 3D human avatar, cartoon-like 3D avatar, and human photographs. We measured the social anxiety of all participants via a measure of eyes avoidance behaviour. Our main findings are that the participants exhibited more anxiety in accordance with the attitude of virtual avatars than the avatar's level of realism.

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Cited By

Serafini MChittaro L(2024)Trial of a desktop virtual reality application as a method of exposure for test anxiety: a qualitative studyBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2023.2299738(1-13)Online publication date: 2-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2023.2299738
Luo XWang YLee LXing ZJin SDong BHu YChen ZYan JHui P(2024)Using a virtual reality interview simulator to explore factors influencing people’s behaviorVirtual Reality10.1007/s10055-023-00934-528:1Online publication date: 28-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-023-00934-5
Luo XWang YLee LXing ZJin SDong BHu YChen ZYan JHui P(2023)Development and penta-metric evaluation of a virtual interview simulator2023 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)10.1109/VRW58643.2023.00301(917-918)Online publication date: Mar-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/VRW58643.2023.00301
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

A study of visual perception: social anxiety and virtual realism
1. Computing methodologies
  1. Computer graphics
    1. Graphics systems and interfaces
      1. Virtual reality

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Published In

cover image ACM Other conferences

SCCG '09: Proceedings of the 25th Spring Conference on Computer Graphics

April 2009

214 pages

ISBN:9781450307697

DOI:10.1145/1980462

Conference Chair:
Helwig Hauser
University of Bergen, Norway
,
Editor:
Stephen N. Spencer
University of Washington

Copyright © 2009 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Comenius University: Comenius University

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SIGGRAPH: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques
EUROGRAPHICS: The European Association for Computer Graphics

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 23 April 2009

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SCCG '09

Sponsor:

Comenius University

SCCG '09: Spring Conference on Computer Graphics

April 23 - 25, 2009

Budmerice, Slovakia

Acceptance Rates

SCCG '09 Paper Acceptance Rate 25 of 34 submissions, 74%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 67 of 115 submissions, 58%

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Cited By

Serafini MChittaro L(2024)Trial of a desktop virtual reality application as a method of exposure for test anxiety: a qualitative studyBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2023.2299738(1-13)Online publication date: 2-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2023.2299738
Luo XWang YLee LXing ZJin SDong BHu YChen ZYan JHui P(2024)Using a virtual reality interview simulator to explore factors influencing people’s behaviorVirtual Reality10.1007/s10055-023-00934-528:1Online publication date: 28-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-023-00934-5
Luo XWang YLee LXing ZJin SDong BHu YChen ZYan JHui P(2023)Development and penta-metric evaluation of a virtual interview simulator2023 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)10.1109/VRW58643.2023.00301(917-918)Online publication date: Mar-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/VRW58643.2023.00301
Weyers-Lucci D(2021)Virtual Reality as a Tool for Mental Health and Conscious Living and DeathResearch Anthology on Mental Health Stigma, Education, and Treatment10.4018/978-1-7998-8544-3.ch025(414-436)Online publication date: 2021
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-8544-3.ch025
Freitas JVelosa VAbreu LJardim RSantos JPeres BCampos P(2021)Virtual Reality Exposure Treatment in Phobias: a Systematic ReviewPsychiatric Quarterly10.1007/s11126-021-09935-6Online publication date: 26-Jun-2021
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-021-09935-6
Weyers-Lucci D(2020)Virtual Reality as a Tool for Mental Health and Conscious Living and DeathHandbook of Research on the Global Impacts and Roles of Immersive Media10.4018/978-1-7998-2433-6.ch021(430-452)Online publication date: 2020
https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-2433-6.ch021
Bruneau JOlivier APettre J(2015)Going Through, Going Around: A Study on Individual Avoidance of GroupsIEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics10.1109/TVCG.2015.239186221:4(520-528)Online publication date: 18-Apr-2015
https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2015.2391862
Olivier ABruneau JCirio GPettré J(2014)A Virtual Reality Platform to Study Crowd BehaviorsTransportation Research Procedia10.1016/j.trpro.2014.09.0152(114-122)Online publication date: 2014
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2014.09.015
Qu CBrinkman WLing YWiggers PHeynderickx I(2014)Conversations with a virtual human: Synthetic emotions and human responsesComputers in Human Behavior10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.03334(58-68)Online publication date: May-2014
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.033
Petrasova ACzanner GHappa JCzanner SWolke DChalmers AGain JMarais PScopigno R(2010)Assessing a virtual baby feeding training systemProceedings of the 7th International Conference on Computer Graphics, Virtual Reality, Visualisation and Interaction in Africa10.1145/1811158.1811165(37-44)Online publication date: 21-Jun-2010
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1811158.1811165

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