Diegetic display, player performance and presence in virtual reality video games

International audienceThe goal of the present study was to investigate the effect of the diegetic display of contextual information on user experience and performance in virtual reality (VR) video games.Contextual information in video games, such as score, health status or mini-map, is traditionally presented in a head-up display superimposed on the main action scene. Such display in which information is not integrated in the game world may be considered as an extra-diegetic display. In contrast, a diegetic display integrates contextual information within the action scene. For instance, the health status may be displayed directly on the avatar or the mini-map can be represented on an electronic device that the avatar holds in the hand.A few previous studies investigate the influence of diegetic displays in video games on classic 2D screens. They generally showed that such display could improve player experience, but not necessarily their performance. However, to the best of our knowledge, it has not been studied in VR game conditions, i.e. with a stereoscopic display that covers a large part of the user’s field of view.In line with previous literature, the hypotheses of the present study were that (1) player performance is higher with an extra-diegetic display than with a diegetic display, but that (2) player’s feeling of presence (one of the main dimensions of player experience) is higher with a diegetic display than with an extra-diegetic display.An experimental study was designed in which 39 participants played a first-person shooter video game with a head-mounted display. The game task was to protect some animals in their pen from predators. Players had to neutralize the predators by shooting at them with a gun equipped with anesthetic ammunition. They also had to treat the animals that were contaminated by predators by shooting at them with the same gun, but with different treatment ammunition. The number of ammunition was limited for both types. Contextual information display (diegetic or extra-diegetic) was manipulated between-participants. In the extra-diegetic condition, the type and number of ammunition, the mini-map and the current scores were displayed in a line at the bottom of the user’s field of view. In the diegetic condition, ammunition information was displayed directly on the gun. The mini-map and scores were displayed on an electronic device that was handled by the avatar in the game. Player performance at the game was measured with the main score which was the number of saved animals. Player presence was measured with a standardized questionnaire.The results showed that player performance was higher in the extra-diegetic display condition than in the diegetic condition. However, there was no significant effect of the display conditions on the feeling of presence.These results were partly in line with previous literature. In a VR situation, displaying contextual information in a traditional extra-diegetic head-up display seems to be more efficient regarding information accessibility, and consequently for performance in the game task. However, presence would not be impacted by diegetic displaying when an immersive system, such as head-mounted displays, is used