Shared Virtual Reality Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Gratifications and Effects of Engagement with Immersive Videos.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 19(9)2022 04 21.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1818128
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and recent economic recession have been impacting many people's mental health. The experience of social distancing created new hardships for people who already reported symptoms of depression or anxiety. In these circumstances, new technologies, such as immersive virtual reality (VR) videos, could serve as useful tools for facilitating interactions, emotional sharing, and information processing within a virtual environment. In this study, researchers aimed to enrich the information processing literature by focusing on the uses and gratifications of 360-degree VR videos during the pandemic. Through employing survey research with 1422 participants located in the U.S. and structural equation modeling for data analysis, this study found that five types of gratification, including utilitarian (i.e., navigation), hedonic (i.e., enjoyment), sensual (i.e., realism), social (i.e., community), and symbolic (i.e., coolness), significantly motivated users to use such immersive videos. Simultaneously, data demonstrated that these five types of gratification could influence users' cognitive engagement with virtual content. In addition, such VR engagement facilitated users' positive attitudes toward immersive videos and continued usage of them. The findings provided practical implications for COVID-19 global recovery as well.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Virtual Reality
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph19095056
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS