Validating the effects of immersion and spatial audio using novel continuous biometric sensor measures for Virtual Reality

This paper presents a narrative content-driven virtual reality (VR) experiment using novel biosensing technology to evaluate emotional response to a complex, layered soundscape that includes discrete and ambient sound events, music, and speech. Stimuli were presented in a spatialized vs mono audio format, to determine whether head-tracked spatial audio exerts an effect on physiologically measured emotional response. The extent to which a listener's sense of immersion in a VR environment can be increased based on the spatial characteristics of the audio is also examined, through the analysis of physical movement data. The results of the study provide evidence that spatial audio can significantly affect emotional response in Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs). Further, physical movement data shows increased user intention and focused localization in the spatial vs non-spatial audio case.