The Feeling of Being ‘There’: Presence and the Role of Virtual Reality as a Research Tool

Abstract

This paper provides evidence to suggest that Virtual Reality (VR) technology offers psychology a more ecologically and internally valid research tool than traditional means of research. As generalizations about certain areas of psychological research, such as in neuropsychology, are benefited by this brand of ecological validity, VR has the potential to radically change how research is performed. This paper offers presence, an individual’s feeling of being in a virtual environment, as the metric that dictates the realness of experience in VR. A focus on maximizing presence, then, should allow for the most ecologically valid research. Means of increasing an individual’s presence are elaborated, and current implementations and future applications of VR for psychology are discussed.