Virtual reality video game spectating

The effects of wearing a Virtual Reality headset is something that had not been fully investigated due to how new the consumer devices are. Using an Oculus Rift DK2, an accelerometer and adapting past studies by Geri (2002) and LoPresti (2003), a purpose made application was created that studied the effect of a Virtual Reality headset on head movement. While it was found that Virtual Reality headsets do not affect head movement, the process of creating the test application uncovered a potential issue with the Unity game engine where data spikes occur at regular intervals when a stream-reader is used to parse string output from a Python process. As the application provided a base on which to further investigate the effect of Virtual Reality headsets on head movement, the application was made freely available for others to replicate or adapt for use in further research regarding this area.Because there had been no studies that explored viewer preference within Virtual Reality, the second study investigated which camera view was preferred when spectating a Virtual Reality game in Virtual Reality. Using the HTC Vive and several camera angles, it was found that having a first person view of the gameplay is least preferred by spectators whereas having free roam around the game level is the most preferred view. Furthermore, a panning transition between cameras is preferred over an instant switch. Additionally, the level of presence felt in each view, determined by the Spatial Presence Experience Scale (Hartmann et al, 2015) had no effect on spectators preferred view. Although, results suggested a larger study may uncover a significant link. This study also led to the created application being made available for anybody who wished to continue research in this area as it provides a platform to implement and test other Virtual Reality spectator views.