Journal article
Enhancing presence, immersion, and interaction in multisensory experiences through touch and haptic feedback
- Abstract:
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In this narrative historical review, we take a closer look at the role of tactile/haptic stimulation in enhancing people’s immersion (and sense of presence) in a variety of entertainment experiences, including virtual reality (VR). An important distinction is highlighted between those situations in which digital tactile stimulation and/or haptic feedback are delivered to those (i.e., users/audience members) who passively experience the stimulation and those cases, including VR, where the user actively controls some aspects of the tactile stimulation/haptic feedback that they happen to be experiencing. A further distinction is drawn between visual and/or auditory VR, where some form of tactile/haptic stimulation is added, and what might be classed as genuinely haptic VR, where the active user/player experiences tactile/haptic stimulation that is effortlessly interpreted in terms of the objects and actions in the virtual world. We review the experimental evidence that has assessed the impact of adding a tactile/haptic element to entertainment experiences, including those in VR. Finally, we highlight some of the key challenges to the growth of haptic VR in the context of multisensory entertainment experiences: these include those of a technical, financial, psychological (namely, the fact that tactile/haptic stimulation often needs to be interpreted and can reduce the sense of immersion in many situations), psycho-physiological (such as sensory overload or fatigue), physiological (e.g., relating to the large surface area of the skin that can potentially be stimulated), and creative/artistic nature.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 1.4MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.3390/virtualworlds4010003
Authors
- Publisher:
- MDPI
- Journal:
- Virtual Worlds More from this journal
- Volume:
- 4
- Issue:
- 1
- Article number:
- 3
- Publication date:
- 2025-01-13
- Acceptance date:
- 2024-12-12
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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2813-2084
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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2077883
- Local pid:
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pubs:2077883
- Deposit date:
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2025-02-05
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Gao and Spence
- Copyright date:
- 2025
- Rights statement:
- © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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