How Audience can be Engaged in VR Videos; A Critical Analysis of Sense of Presence, Enjoyment and Empathy
Keywords:
Audience engagement, VR 360 video, Sense of presence, Enjoyment, Empathy
Abstract
Audience engagement has become a priority in the news industry. Journalists and news producers are adopting innovative ways of storytelling that can engage more and more audiences. For this, the producers and directors are using 360 VR technologies to boost audience engagement. However, there is scarce empirical evidence in underdeveloped countries on the relationship between 360 VR videos and audience engagement. Therefore, the study aimed to find out which element, including the sense of presence, enjoyment, and empathy, is more effective for audience engagement. For this experimental method was employed. Purposefully volunteers were recruited, and a 360 VR video taken from the website “The New York Times” named “The Displaced was shown to them. Their responses were collected on the pre-structured questionnaires. The findings showed that a sense of presence is very vital for audience engagement as the more audience “feel being there” in the 360 VR video, they will be engaged more similarly, the role of enjoyment and empathy is also very important in 360 VR videos. These three elements might be considered as the foundation of the 360 VR video industry. Therefore, the producers and the technology experts can get benefit from these results. It also contributes to the scarcity of 360 VR literature particularly. There is very limited empirical evidence on the relationship of sense of presence, enjoyment, and empathy with audience engagement in underdeveloped countries like Pakistan as this technology is in the very early stage.
References
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Chang, H., & Cohen, M. F. (2017). Panning and zooming high-resolution panoramas in virtual reality devices. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 30th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1145/3126594.3126617
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Cummings, M. E., Rawhouser, H., Vismara, S., & Hamilton, E. L. (2020). An equity crowdfunding research agenda: Evidence from stakeholder participation in the rulemaking process. Small Business Economics, 54(4), 907-932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-018-00134-5
Dillard, A. J., Ferrer, R. A., & Welch, J. D. (2018). Associations between narrative transportation, risk perception and behaviour intentions following narrative messages about skin cancer. Psychology & Health, 33(5), 573-593. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2017.1380811
Freeman, D., Slater, M., Bebbington, P. E., Garety, P. A., Kuipers, E., Fowler, D., ... & Vinayagamoorthy, V. (2003). Can virtual reality be used to investigate persecutory ideation? The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 191(8), 509-514. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nmd.0000082212.83842.fe
Gonzalez-Liencres, C., Shamay-Tsoory, S. G., & Brü ne, M. (2013). Towards a neuroscience of empathy: Ontogeny, phylogeny, brain mechanisms, context and psychopathology. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(8), 1537-1548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.05.001
Green, M. C., Brock, T. C., & Kaufman, G. F. (2004). Understanding media enjoyment: The role of transportation into narrative worlds. Communication Theory, 14(4), 311-327. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2004.tb00317.x
Green, M. C. (2008). Research Challenges: Research challenges in narrative persuasion. Information Design Journal, 16(1), 47-52. https:// doi.org/10.1075/idj.16.1.07gre
Herbelin, B., Vexo, F., & Thalmann, D. (2002). Sense of presence in virtual reality exposures therapy. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Virtual Reality Rehabilitation, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Ijsselsteijn, W., & Riva, G. (2003). Being there: The experience of presence in mediated environments. In G. Riva, F. Davide, & W. A.
IJsselsteijn (Eds.), Being there: Concepts, effects and measurements of user presence in synthetic environments (pp. 3–16). IOS Press.
Jorland, G., & Thirioux, B. (2008). Commentary on the Origin of Empathy. Revue de Metaphysique et de Morale, 58(2), 269-280. https://doi.org/10.3917/rmm.082.0269
Kendzierski, D., & DeCarlo, K. J. (1991). Physical activity enjoyment scale: Two validation studies. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.13.1.50
Kukkakorpi, M., & Pantti, M. (2021). A sense of place: VR journalism and emotional engagement. Journalism Practice, 15(6), 785-802. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1799237
Lawrence, E. J., Shaw, P., Baker, D., Baron-Cohen, S., & David, A. S. (2004). Measuring empathy: Reliability and validity of the Empathy Quotient. Psychological Medicine, 34(5), 911-920. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291703001624
Lee, A. M., Lewis, S. C., & Powers, M. (2014). Audience clicks and news placement: A study of time-lagged influence in online journalism. Communication Research, 41(4), 505-530. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650212467031
Mestre, D., Fuchs, P. , Berthoz, A., & Vercher, J. L. (2006). Immersion et présence. In Le traité de la réalité virtuelle. Paris, France: Ecole des Mines de Paris.
Murphy, S. T., Frank, L. B., Chatterjee, J. S., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (2013). Narrative versus nonnarrative: The role of identification, transportation, and emotion in reducing health disparities. Journal of Communication, 63(1), 116-137. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12007
Nielsen, L. T., Møller, M. B., Hartmeyer, S. D., Ljung, T. C., Nilsson, N. C., Nordahl, R., & Serafin, S. (2016). Missing the point: An exploration of how to guide users' attention during cinematic virtual reality. Paper Presented at the Proceedings of the 22nd ACM Conference on Virtual Reality Software and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1145/2993369.2993405
O'Brien, H. L., & Toms, E. G. (2010). The development and evaluation of a survey to measure user engagement. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(1), 50-69. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21229
Sanchez, G. M. E., Van Renterghem, T., Sun, K., De Coensel, B., & Botteldooren, D. (2017). Using Virtual Reality for assessing the role of noise in the audio-visual design of an urban public space. Landscape and Urban Planning, 167, 98-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.05.018
Sánchez Laws, A. L. (2020). Can immersive journalism enhance empathy? Digital Journalism, 8(2), 213-228. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1389286
Schwind, V., Knierim, P., Haas, N., & Henze, N. (2019). Using presence questionnaires in virtual reality. Paper Presented at the Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300590
Shin, D. (2018). Empathy and embodied experience in virtual environment: To what extent can virtual reality stimulate empathy and embodied experience?. Computers in Human Behavior, 78, 64-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.09.012
Suh, A., Wang, G., Gu, W., & Wagner, C. (2018). Enhancing audience engagement through immersive 360-degree videos: An experimental study. Paper Presented at the International Conference on Augmented Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91470-1_34
Tribusean I. (2020) The Use of VR in Journalism: Current Research and Future Opportunities. In: Jung T., tom Dieck M., Rauschnabel P. (eds) Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Cham, UK: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37869-1_19
Vorderer, P., Klimmt, C., & Ritterfeld, U. (2004). Enjoyment: At the heart of media entertainment. Communication Theory, 14(4), 388-408. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2004.tb00321.x
Walter, N., Murphy, S. T., Frank, L. B., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (2017). Each medium tells a different story: The effect of message channel on narrative persuasion. Communication Research Reports, 34(2), 161-170. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2017.1286471
Wang, G., Gu, W., & Suh, A. (2018). The effects of 360-degree VR videos on audience engagement: Evidence from the New York Times. Paper presented at the International conference on HCI in business, government, and organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91716-0_17
Wankel, L. M. (1993). The importance of enjoyment to adherence and psychological benefits from physical activity. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 24(2), 151–169.
Witmer, B. G., & Singer, M. J. (1998). Measuring presence in virtual environments: A presence questionnaire. Presence, 7(3), 225-240. https://doi.org/10.1162/105474698565686
Yilmaz, R. M., & Goktas, Y. (2017). Using augmented reality technology in storytelling activities: Examining elementary students’ narrative skill and creativity. Virtual Reality, 21(2), 75-89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-016-0300-1
Zahorik, P., & Jenison, R. L. (1998). Presence as being-in-the-world. Presence, 7(1), 78-89. https://doi.org/10.1162/105474698565541
Zhang, H., Liang, X., & Wang, S. (2016). Customer value anticipation, product innovativeness, and customer lifetime value: The moderating role of advertising strategy. Journal of Business Research, 69(9), 3725-3730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.09.018
Biocca, F., Kim, T., & Levy, M. R. (1995). The vision of virtual reality. In Communication in the age of virtual reality. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
Blevins, C. E., Stephens, R., & Abrantes, A. M. (2017). Motives for prescription stimulant misuse in a college sample: Characteristics of users, perception of risk, and consequences of use. Substance Use & Misuse, 52(5), 555-561. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2016.1245338
Borger, M., Costera Meijer, I., van Hoof, A., & Sanders, J. (2013). “It really is a Craft”: Repertoires in Journalistic Frontrunners’ Talk on Audience Participation. Medijska Istraživanja: Znanstveno-stručni Casopis za Novinarstvo i Medije, 19(2), 31-54.
Castaneda, L. M., Bindman, S. W., Cechony, A., Sidhu, M. J. P. T., & Environments, V. (2018). The disconnect between real and virtually real worlds: The challenges of using VR with adolescents. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 26(4), 453-453. https://doi.org/10.1162/PRES_a_00310
Chang, H., & Cohen, M. F. (2017). Panning and zooming high-resolution panoramas in virtual reality devices. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 30th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1145/3126594.3126617
Coleman, S., & Ross, K. (2010). The media and the public:" them" and" us" in media discourse (Vol. 9). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444318173
Castaneda, L. M., Bindman, S. W., Cechony, A., & Sidhu, M. (2018). The disconnect between real and virtually real worlds: The challenges of using VR with adolescents. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 26(4), 453-453. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12183
Cummings, M. E., Rawhouser, H., Vismara, S., & Hamilton, E. L. (2020). An equity crowdfunding research agenda: Evidence from stakeholder participation in the rulemaking process. Small Business Economics, 54(4), 907-932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-018-00134-5
Dillard, A. J., Ferrer, R. A., & Welch, J. D. (2018). Associations between narrative transportation, risk perception and behaviour intentions following narrative messages about skin cancer. Psychology & Health, 33(5), 573-593. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2017.1380811
Freeman, D., Slater, M., Bebbington, P. E., Garety, P. A., Kuipers, E., Fowler, D., ... & Vinayagamoorthy, V. (2003). Can virtual reality be used to investigate persecutory ideation? The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 191(8), 509-514. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.nmd.0000082212.83842.fe
Gonzalez-Liencres, C., Shamay-Tsoory, S. G., & Brü ne, M. (2013). Towards a neuroscience of empathy: Ontogeny, phylogeny, brain mechanisms, context and psychopathology. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(8), 1537-1548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.05.001
Green, M. C., Brock, T. C., & Kaufman, G. F. (2004). Understanding media enjoyment: The role of transportation into narrative worlds. Communication Theory, 14(4), 311-327. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2004.tb00317.x
Green, M. C. (2008). Research Challenges: Research challenges in narrative persuasion. Information Design Journal, 16(1), 47-52. https:// doi.org/10.1075/idj.16.1.07gre
Herbelin, B., Vexo, F., & Thalmann, D. (2002). Sense of presence in virtual reality exposures therapy. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Virtual Reality Rehabilitation, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Ijsselsteijn, W., & Riva, G. (2003). Being there: The experience of presence in mediated environments. In G. Riva, F. Davide, & W. A.
IJsselsteijn (Eds.), Being there: Concepts, effects and measurements of user presence in synthetic environments (pp. 3–16). IOS Press.
Jorland, G., & Thirioux, B. (2008). Commentary on the Origin of Empathy. Revue de Metaphysique et de Morale, 58(2), 269-280. https://doi.org/10.3917/rmm.082.0269
Kendzierski, D., & DeCarlo, K. J. (1991). Physical activity enjoyment scale: Two validation studies. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.13.1.50
Kukkakorpi, M., & Pantti, M. (2021). A sense of place: VR journalism and emotional engagement. Journalism Practice, 15(6), 785-802. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1799237
Lawrence, E. J., Shaw, P., Baker, D., Baron-Cohen, S., & David, A. S. (2004). Measuring empathy: Reliability and validity of the Empathy Quotient. Psychological Medicine, 34(5), 911-920. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291703001624
Lee, A. M., Lewis, S. C., & Powers, M. (2014). Audience clicks and news placement: A study of time-lagged influence in online journalism. Communication Research, 41(4), 505-530. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650212467031
Mestre, D., Fuchs, P. , Berthoz, A., & Vercher, J. L. (2006). Immersion et présence. In Le traité de la réalité virtuelle. Paris, France: Ecole des Mines de Paris.
Murphy, S. T., Frank, L. B., Chatterjee, J. S., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (2013). Narrative versus nonnarrative: The role of identification, transportation, and emotion in reducing health disparities. Journal of Communication, 63(1), 116-137. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12007
Nielsen, L. T., Møller, M. B., Hartmeyer, S. D., Ljung, T. C., Nilsson, N. C., Nordahl, R., & Serafin, S. (2016). Missing the point: An exploration of how to guide users' attention during cinematic virtual reality. Paper Presented at the Proceedings of the 22nd ACM Conference on Virtual Reality Software and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1145/2993369.2993405
O'Brien, H. L., & Toms, E. G. (2010). The development and evaluation of a survey to measure user engagement. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(1), 50-69. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21229
Sanchez, G. M. E., Van Renterghem, T., Sun, K., De Coensel, B., & Botteldooren, D. (2017). Using Virtual Reality for assessing the role of noise in the audio-visual design of an urban public space. Landscape and Urban Planning, 167, 98-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.05.018
Sánchez Laws, A. L. (2020). Can immersive journalism enhance empathy? Digital Journalism, 8(2), 213-228. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1389286
Schwind, V., Knierim, P., Haas, N., & Henze, N. (2019). Using presence questionnaires in virtual reality. Paper Presented at the Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300590
Shin, D. (2018). Empathy and embodied experience in virtual environment: To what extent can virtual reality stimulate empathy and embodied experience?. Computers in Human Behavior, 78, 64-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.09.012
Suh, A., Wang, G., Gu, W., & Wagner, C. (2018). Enhancing audience engagement through immersive 360-degree videos: An experimental study. Paper Presented at the International Conference on Augmented Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91470-1_34
Tribusean I. (2020) The Use of VR in Journalism: Current Research and Future Opportunities. In: Jung T., tom Dieck M., Rauschnabel P. (eds) Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Cham, UK: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37869-1_19
Vorderer, P., Klimmt, C., & Ritterfeld, U. (2004). Enjoyment: At the heart of media entertainment. Communication Theory, 14(4), 388-408. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2004.tb00321.x
Walter, N., Murphy, S. T., Frank, L. B., & Baezconde-Garbanati, L. (2017). Each medium tells a different story: The effect of message channel on narrative persuasion. Communication Research Reports, 34(2), 161-170. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2017.1286471
Wang, G., Gu, W., & Suh, A. (2018). The effects of 360-degree VR videos on audience engagement: Evidence from the New York Times. Paper presented at the International conference on HCI in business, government, and organizations. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91716-0_17
Wankel, L. M. (1993). The importance of enjoyment to adherence and psychological benefits from physical activity. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 24(2), 151–169.
Witmer, B. G., & Singer, M. J. (1998). Measuring presence in virtual environments: A presence questionnaire. Presence, 7(3), 225-240. https://doi.org/10.1162/105474698565686
Yilmaz, R. M., & Goktas, Y. (2017). Using augmented reality technology in storytelling activities: Examining elementary students’ narrative skill and creativity. Virtual Reality, 21(2), 75-89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-016-0300-1
Zahorik, P., & Jenison, R. L. (1998). Presence as being-in-the-world. Presence, 7(1), 78-89. https://doi.org/10.1162/105474698565541
Zhang, H., Liang, X., & Wang, S. (2016). Customer value anticipation, product innovativeness, and customer lifetime value: The moderating role of advertising strategy. Journal of Business Research, 69(9), 3725-3730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.09.018
Published
2021-10-08
How to Cite
Naveed Ullah Hashmi, Dr. Noman Ansari, & Dr. Wajid Zulqarnain. (2021). How Audience can be Engaged in VR Videos; A Critical Analysis of Sense of Presence, Enjoyment and Empathy. Journal of Management Practices, Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(4), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.33152/jmphss-5.4.1
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