Physiological Response while Driving in an Immersive Virtual Environment

Abstract

In this pilot study, we aimed to explore the sense of presence and the physiological response evoked by an immersive virtual environment by using a modern head-mounted display (HMD) while performing a driving task in our simulator. We found an increase in mean whole session electrodermal activity (EDA) and heart rate (HR) as well as during emergency maneuvers events, showing a stronger response and more extended response when driving in the immersive simulation when compared with the standard simulation. At this proof of concept phase we were able to register and detect physiological signal differences between display modalities, suggesting deeper sense of presence when driving in an immersive environment.