UX: human factors (I) cognition

Attention: actions & UI elements

"[W]e experimented with a color LCD screen, but the users did not see depth, they just saw double. Color graphics give people the impression that a game is high tech. But just because a game has a beautiful display does not mean that the game is fun to play. ... Red uses less battery and red is easier to recognize. That is why red is used for traffic lights." — Gunpei Yokoi about Virtual Boy (1995).

I. Positioning

Anything closer than 0.5m is difficult to focus on. Anything further than 20m will lose its depth or “3D-ness”. Naturally, due to the screen-based VR displays and optics we have right now, the eyes will be focused at a distance of 2m. Objects will feel most comfortable from 2m-10m away from the user.

II. Cone of Focus

III. Comfortable ranges of motion

Left/right: up to 30° for comfort, 55° maximum.
Up: up to 20° for comfort, 60° maximum.
Down: up to 12° for comfort, °40 maximum.

IV. Text size

Flow States

article 1: Creating Flow States with VR. article 2: Inducing Emotional and Cognitive States in VR, by Liminal VR

The term embodiment can be explained as the brain processing the sensory information that the body perceives. We typically think of the brain telling the body what to do, but the latest research shows that the body also tells the brain want to do. Research into embodiment points the way for what virtual reality will become as a medium. It’s not a movie, not a game, but VR is its own thing all together. VR uses the entire body, not just two hands holding on to some controllers. Therefore, designing for VR experiences starts with the sensorimotor loop.

“Flow is characterized by enjoying the process of the activity, being fully involved, and being immersed in a feeling of energized focus.” -100 principles of game design (2012)

Virtual reality is undoubtedly the most advanced medium to induce and augment emotional and cognitive states in people. Subtle cues in our environment can directly influence our non-conscious behaviour change. The priming and nudging can be done in various ways.

Theoretical principles cognition

I. Affordance

The classic example of an affordance is the handle on a teapot, which is designed to be easy to hold, and exists to prevent people from scorching their fingers. Conversely, the spout is not designed to appear grabbable.

In computer interface design, an indentation around a button is an affordance that indicates that it can be moved independently of its surroundings by pressing. The color, shape, and label of a button advertise its function. Solid affordances are critical in VR interactive design. They ensure that your users understand what they can do, and make it easier for you to anticipate how your demo will be used. The more specific the interaction, the more specific the affordance should appear. In other words, the right affordance can only be used in one way. This effectively “tricks” the user into making the right movements. In turn, this makes the object easier to use, and reduces the chance of error.

II. Gestalt Theory

article 3: Gestalt principles

The Gestalt principles attempt to describe how people perceive visual elements when certain conditions apply. They are built on four key ideas:

Emergence: People tend to identify elements first in their general outlined form.
Reification: People can recognise objects even when there are parts of them missing.
Multi-Stability: People will often interpret ambiguous objects in more than one ways.
Invariance: People can recognise simple objects independently of their rotation, scale and translation.