Interpersonal distance in VR: reactions of older adults to the presence of a virtual agent

TL;DR

This study investigates how older adults react to virtual agents in VR, revealing they maintain greater interpersonal distance than younger users, which has implications for designing age-appropriate virtual environments.

Contribution

It provides empirical data on age-related differences in interpersonal distance to virtual agents in VR environments, informing tailored VR design for older adults.

Findings

Older adults maintain greater distance to virtual agents than younger adults.

Differences in distance may be influenced by arousal levels and cultural norms.

VR design should adapt agent proximity based on user age.

Abstract

The rapid development of virtual reality technology has increased its availability and, consequently, increased the number of its possible applications. The interest in the new medium has grown due to the entertainment industry (games, VR experiences and movies). The number of freely available training and therapeutic applications is also increasing. Contrary to popular opinion, new technologies are also adopted by older adults. Creating virtual environments tailored to the needs and capabilities of older adults requires intense research on the behaviour of these participants in the most common situations, towards commonly used elements of the virtual environment, in typical sceneries. Comfortable immersion in a virtual environment is key to achieving the impression of presence. Presence is, in turn, necessary to obtain appropriate training, persuasive and therapeutic effects. A virtual agent (a humanoid representation of an algorithm or artificial intelligence) is often an element of the virtual environment interface. Maintaining an appropriate distance to the agent is, therefore, a key parameter for the creator of the VR experience. Older (65+) participants maintain greater distance towards an agent (a young white male) than younger ones (25-35). It may be caused by differences in the level of arousal, but also cultural norms. As a consequence, VR developers are advised to use algorithms that maintain the agent at the appropriate distance, depending on the user's age.