Subjective Evaluation of an Olfaction Enhanced Immersive Virtual Reality Environment

Recent research efforts have reported findings on user Quality of Experience (QoE) of immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences. Truly immersive multimedia experiences also include multisensory components such as factional, tactile etc., in addition to audiovisual stimuli. In this context, this paper reports the results of a user QoE study of an olfaction-enhanced immersive VR environment. The results presented compare the user QoE between two groups (VR vs VR + Olfaction) and consider how the addition of olfaction affected user QoE levels (considering sense of enjoyment, immersion and discomfort). Self-reported measures via post-test questionnaire (10 questions) only revealed one statistically significant difference between the groups; in terms of how users felt with respect to their senses being stimulated. The presence of olfaction in the VR environment did not have a statistically significant effect in terms of user levels of enjoyment, immersion and discomfort.