Understanding the Effects of Interaction on Emotional Experiences in VR

TL;DR

This study investigates how interaction within VR environments affects emotional experiences, revealing that interaction can amplify and modulate emotions, with implications for emotion regulation and application-specific design.

Contribution

We extend a VR emotion dataset by adding high-arousal scenes and systematically examine how interaction influences emotional responses using multimodal measures.

Findings

Interaction amplifies emotional intensity.

Interaction modulates emotions based on scene context.

Interaction supports emotion regulation and enhances enjoyment.

Abstract

Virtual reality has been effectively used for eliciting emotions, yet most research focuses on the intensity of affective responses rather than on how interaction influences those experiences. To address this gap, we advance a validated VR emotion-elicitation dataset through two key extensions. First, we add a new high-arousal, high-valence scene and validate its effectiveness in a within-subject study (N=24). Second, we incorporate interactive elements into each scene, creating both interactive and non-interactive versions to examine the impact of interaction on emotional responses. We evaluate interaction through a multimodal approach combining subjective ratings and physiological signals to capture both conscious and unconscious affective responses. Our evaluation study (N=84) shows that interaction not only amplifies emotions but modulates them in context, supporting coping in negative scenes and enhancing enjoyment in positive scenes. These findings highlight the potential of scene-tailored interaction for different applications, where regulating emotions is as important as eliciting them.