Evaluating player performance and usability of graphical FPS interfaces in VR

Sammanfattning: Background. When designing video games for Virtual Reality, graphical user interfaces (GUIs) cannot always be designed as they have been for traditional video games. An often recommended approach is to merge the interface with the game world, but it is unclear if this is the best idea in all cases. As the market for Virtual Reality is growing quickly, more research is needed to create an understanding of how GUIs should be designed for Virtual Reality. Objectives. The thesis researches existing GUI type classifications and adapts them for VR. A method to compare the GUI types to each other is selected and conclusions are drawn about how they affect player performance, usability, and preference.  Methods. A VR FPS game is developed and an experiment is designed using it. The experiment tests the player's performance with each of three distinct GUI types and also presents questionnaires to get their personal preference. Results. Both player performance and subjective opinion seems to favour geometric GUI. Conclusions. The often recommended approach for designing GUI elements as part of the game world may not always be the best option, as it may sacrifice usability and performance for immersion.