Presence in Virtual Cave

Virtual Reality (VR) is usually recognized as a tool that enables the viewer to move freely in a three dimensional digital environment. In this virtual world, different levels of immersion could be reached. Using VR to visualize sites and places from the past, presents and future is widely acknowledged. This study is making use of a recently installed U-Cave theatre at Birzeit University (BZU) in Palestine and a Con-Cave VR theatre at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB).In the study, we test hypotheses connected to presence in virtual reality environments, using the case of historical sites. Historical sites in general are important for reasons of cultural identification and environmental integrity. In many historical sites, it is difficult for a layperson to read and understand the meaning of the site, for that the remaining ruins donit provide enough information. This study will contribute to improving the public understanding for historical sites by unfolding the role of Virtual Reality to overcome the harsh reality of many damaged historical sites. The story-line of the site can be easily portrayed by re-constructing the original site in a virtual environment. The study also elaborates on the enriched sense of presence made possible by implementing different levels of details in the VR environment. Presence in VR environments is usually defined as “being there”, with high consideration of the physical ether of the virtual environment, the definition confines attention to the sensation of place. This study calls for expanding the attention to the dimension of time that is made possible by innovative design of VR environment. The study argues that virtual reality technology does not only provide a 3-D experience to subjects, it can also add a fourth dimension by conveying the unconsciousness of man from the meanwhile moment to a different timeframe. Based on the current knowledge on presence in virtual environments, we will use a questionnaire to measure subjective presence for the two VR theatre systems. The study will make use of the following factors in order to determine the degree of presence in the virtual environment: (1) naturalness of interface design and involvement, (2) control and interaction, (3) quality of technical capabilities, and (4) negative effects. The outcome of the study will verify or falsify some of the following hypotheses: • There is a correlation between modelling techniques and presence. The perception of the visual experience differs between traditional media and an immersive VR environment. • A presentation of a historical site in a VR-Cave environment will increase our subjectis awareness of the identity of the historical site. • The presence level is correlated to previous real exposure. Subjects who had been to a ruined historical site in real life, would experience higher level of presence toward the VR presentation than those who had not been to the historical site in reality. • Because of the display enclosure surround effect, it is believed that presence in a Con-Cave would be higher than of U-Cave VR environment