Systematic Review on Realism Research Methodologies on Immersive Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Realities

Proper evaluation of realism in immersive virtual experiences is crucial to ensure optimisation of resources. This way, we can take better decisions while designing realistic immersive experiences, prioritising factors that have a higher impact on the perceived realism of the virtual experience. This systematic review aims to provide readers with an overview of methodologies used throughout the literature to evaluate realism in immersive virtual, augmented and mixed reality. A total of 79 from 1300 gathered articles met the eligibility criteria and were analysed. Results have shown that virtual reality is by far the platform where realism studies were performed. Head-mounted displays are by far the preferred equipment for such studies. Visual realism is the most researched, followed by audiovisual. The majority of methodologies consisted of subjective, as well as a combination of objective and subjective measures. The most used evaluation instrument is questionnaires where many of which are custom and non-validated. Presence questionnaires are the most used ones and are often used to evaluate the presence, perceived realism and involvement. Cybersickness evaluation is consistently assessed by one self-report questionnaire.