The Time Perception Control and Regulation in VR Environment

TL;DR

This paper investigates how four types of time zeitgebers—music, color, cognitive load, and concentration—affect human time perception in VR environments, enabling better control of subjective time estimation.

Contribution

It explores the effects of four physical-world zeitgebers on time perception within VR, providing insights into their potential for time perception regulation in virtual settings.

Findings

Music, color, cognitive load, and concentration influence time perception in VR.

VR allows precise manipulation of zeitgebers not feasible in the physical world.

Differences between subjective and objective time are measurable in VR environments.

Abstract

To adapt to different environments, human circadian rhythms will be constantly adjusted as the environment changes, which follows the principle of survival of the fittest. According to this principle, objective factors (such as circadian rhythms, and light intensity) can be utilized to control time perception. The subjective judgment on the estimation of elapsed time is called time perception. In the physical world, factors that can affect time perception, represented by illumination, are called the Zeitgebers. In recent years, with the development of Virtual Reality (VR) technology, effective control of zeitgebers has become possible, which is difficult to achieve in the physical world. Based on previous studies, this paper deeply explores the actual performance in VR environment of four types of time zeitgebers (music, color, cognitive load, and concentration) that have been proven to have a certain impact on time perception in the physical world. It discusses the study of the measurement of the difference between human time perception and objective escaped time in the physical world.