Comparing the Effectiveness of Diegetic vs Non-Diegetic Interface Designs for 3D Manipulation in Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality is becoming more and more prevalent in many domains. Along with this, VR technology has become increasingly advanced. VR Interfaces, however, still require further research to determine how they impact user experience and presence in virtual environments. In this paper, we explore the time-efficiency and overall “presence” of two UI patterns in a virtual environment, Diegetic and Non-Diegetic UI, for completing tasks related to 3D manipulation in order to determine which is the more effective form of UI for said tasks. We use a between-participants design and ask participants to complete specific tasks using the two UIs, measuring the time taken for each task and then having them take a brief presence questionnaire. Although we were unable to prove interface design has an impact on the effectiveness for 3D manipulation, we gained valuable insight into designing studies for 3D interface designs