Which ambient conditions influence players'perceived stress and discomfort most strongly in a virtual environment

Sammanfattning

This study aimed to investigate which ambient conditions influence players' perceived stress and discomfort most strongly in a virtual environment. Five different ambient conditions were created, varying sounds complexity and sound recognisability, including a condition with no ambient sound. 15 Participants went through these different ambient conditions, where they rated their perceived stress levels and verbalized their experience with each condition. The quantitative data showed no statistically significant difference between the ambient conditions. However, the qualitative data showed a clear pattern with how the participants experienced the different ambient conditions. The absence of ambient sounds had the most clear theme with the participants, indicating that sudden silence created feelings of tension and anticipation. Participants also associated unfamiliar sounds in the ambient with stress and discomfort more frequently than the familiar ambient designs.