Unified Approach to Augmented Reality: Taking Into Account Technological, Psychological, and Ecological Approaches

Introduction

Virtual reality needs a strong basis to distinguish itself from other media. This is why we define it as a mediated experience that immerses one or more users into an artificial environment in which the user can feel and interact in real-time via sensory-motor interfaces. The user deems the experience credible, agrees to take part in the game, and in response feels a sense of presence. We can note that this definition combines technological and cognitive considerations and does not forget to point to the experience aspect. We, therefore, do not reduce virtual reality to a set of technologies but consider it as the medium of a type of experience that leads to the feeling of presence. We want to express through this definition a strong relationship between virtual reality, presence, and user. Through this definition, we wish to emphasize the idea of focusing on the user's and sensory and cognitive capacities. In virtual reality, more than in any other computerized activity, we think it crucial to adopt a human-centered approach, for the effectiveness of the experience but also to achieve the feeling of presence. We, therefore, associate virtual reality and a feeling of presence.

The latter is a multidimensional and multifactorial umbrella concept that is often the subject of quarrels in scientific areas. Is it the result of the technology implemented? Is immersion born from the emotions brought about by experience? If the feeling of presence is an object that is difficult to identify, it is even more difficult to reach it. Given this objective, it is important to have solid theoretical foundations. It is then necessary to understand the underlying processes leading to presence.

This chapter proposes to answer these multiple needs and questions and to specify the path which makes it possible to understand the feeling of presence. The identification of a complete and unified model of presence will serve as a theoretical and technical framework for the design of devices and applications in virtual reality. After describing three existing approaches including technological, psychological, and ecological, we present a new balanced approach between these three visions and then identify a fourth component of presence. We then propose a framework dedicated to the design of virtual reality applications. Finally, we present a complete and unified model of presence.