A Study on the Impact of Virtual Reality on User Attention

In this contribution, an analysis of the effect of the adoption of virtual reality on human attention is presented. Specifically, we analyzed whether the use of virtual reality leads to a higher level of attention with respect to the use of the same application on a 2D display system. For this purpose, a subjective experiment based on the Stroop test has been implemented. The analysis performed on the collected data suggests that the immersive virtual reality experience helps the user to focus, thus increasing user performance and reducing the impact of external distractions. The heart rate of the observers was also measured during the experiment. Tests show that the heart rate tends to be higher and more regular when using a virtual reality headset than when using a 2D screen. This may indicate greater user engagement.