The Effects Of Physical Movement In Virtual Reality With The Use Of Heart Rate Biofeedback Interaction As A Game Mechanic

Sammanfattning: This thesis explores the use of heart rate as a biofeedback game mechanic control in combination with physical movement in a Virtual reality (VR) environment using either teleportation, or a VR treadmill. A literature review, surveys, expert interviews, semi-structured interviews and a VR prototype were created. The prototype was iterated three times, and tested using the A-B method with 57 participants. The Polar H10 was used for the heart rate monitoring of the participants. The readings of the heart rate values were received via a script in Python in order to extract raw heart rate data from the participant in real time and sent to the prototype in Unity. It includes different interaction functionalities, a teleportation system, and a grabbing system from the SteamVR asset pack, a walk function using the Omnideck from Omnifinity, and includes assets from Unity for the graphics and sound. From the results and analysis of the data from the prototype, it can be interpreted that using some sort of movement in VR enhances the participants engagement and immersiveness in the environment. While heart rate biofeedback control enhances the VR experience, adding physical walking using treadmills improves it even more.