A framework for evaluating presence in VR narrative games

Abstract

This research develops a framework that unveils how players feel present in Virtual Reality (VR) narrative games. In 2017, there were over 2.2 billion active video gamers, and VR is a future game platform because VR provides immersive gaming experiences where players experience presence. Slater and & Wilbur (1997, p. 14) define presence as the “sense of being in the virtual environment.” Previous research demonstrated that narrative could improve presence in VR games but left open the discussion on the causal relationship. Therefore, understanding how game narrative contributes to presence could further improve VR gaming experiences. This research reviews Wei, Bizzocchi & Calvert’s (2010) and Ryan’s (2015) frameworks that evaluate narrative games and presence in VR narratives respectively. Wei et al. and Ryan's frameworks are combined to propose The Augmented Framework which is then used to evaluate the self-produced VR narrative game, Caillte. The evaluation yields insights which improve the usage of The Augmented Framework for analysing other VR narrative games.