Some VR researchers have evaluated fidelity by comparing highfidelity
VR systems to low-fidelity desktop systems. For example,
Gruchalla compared CAVE [4] and desktop versions of a well-path
planning application and found that users performed significantly
faster with the increased fidelity of the CAVE system [5]. Similarly,
Arns et al. found that a CAVE version of a statistical data application
significantly improved accuracy when compared to a desktop version
[6]. Ruddle et al. compared a head-mounted display (HMD) to a
desktop for navigating large-scale virtual environments (VEs) and
found that the increased fidelity of the HMD allowed users to
navigate the VEs significantly faster [7]. However, in these and
many other prior studies on the effects of fidelity, display fidelity
and interaction fidelity were confounded, making it difficult to
distinguish the components contributing to any significant effects.
Considering the importance of continuing to explore the effects
of increasing fidelity, we designed and conducted a study to
independently evaluate both display and interaction fidelity at
extremely high and low levels, which yielded four experimental
conditions. We used a six-sided CAVE with wireless tracking
capabilities to provide the extremely high levels of display and
interaction fidelity. To gain a better understanding of the effects of
fidelity on the user experience, particularly performance, we chose to
use a virtual reality first-person shooter (FPS) game as a complex,
performance-intensive context for our study. We also evaluated the
effects of fidelity on subjective responses, such as presence [8],
engagement [9], and usability.
After describing the details of our experimental design, we
provide analyses of the results of our study, which indicate that both
display fidelity and interaction fidelity have significant effects on the
user experience. We discuss how performance results strongly favor
two of the four conditions – low-display, low-interaction fidelity and
high-display, high-interaction fidelity – both of which leverage
familiar experiences (i.e., a traditional FPS game and the real world,
respectively). Overall, our study contributes to a better scientific
understanding of the effects of display fidelity and interaction
fidelity while addressing some practical concerns of choosing
appropriate displays and interaction techniques.