Differentiating presence in virtual reality using physiological signals

S. Saha , C. Dobbins , A. Gupta , A. Dey

Pervasive and Mobile Computing

Presence in VR is usually captured through self-reports, which can be biased and interrupt the experience. This study of 26 participants instead used a wrist-worn device to record electrodermal activity and heart-rate variability while people experienced a neutral VR environment tuned to high, medium, and low presence. Both the tonic and phasic components of the skin-conductance signal distinguished the levels — including through two newly constructed features — and heart-rate variability separated the low and medium levels, pointing toward an objective physiological measure of presence.

@article{saha2025,
  author    = {S. Saha and C. Dobbins and A. Gupta and A. Dey},
  title     = {Differentiating presence in virtual reality using physiological signals},
  journal = {Pervasive and Mobile Computing},
  year      = {2025},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.pmcj.2025.102065}
}