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The Role of Mismatches in the Sensory Feedback Provided to Indicate Selection Within a Virtual Environment

The main goal of this study is to assess the influence of the typical mismatches encountered during interaction within a VE in selections tasks such as a Simon game. The main research question was: which sensory mismatches influence negatively presence and task performance within a selection task? While performing a selection task, asynchronies in haptic feedback are the most negative in presence and performance. Typical interaction within a VE displayed on a desktop is usually provided in a condition with misalignment between visual and proprioceptive workspaces. Nevertheless, in everyday interaction, selection is made in conditions of coherence. A second question addressed in this work was: does the influence of sensory mismatches change depending on the degree of coincidence between visual and proprioceptive workspaces? The hypothesis in this case is that in presence of a first level incoherence, such as that included between workspaces, the influence of brief mismatches in the sensory feedback provided is lower than in a condition of coherence. Thus, the second hypothesis is stated as follows: mismatches in the selection feedback are more negative in a condition of coincidence between workspaces. Thirty-two participants (23 men and 9 women) were recruited and distributed into two groups to perform an experiment on a virtual Simon game. Participants were asked to reproduce a sequence of steps on the Virtual Simon interface under several sensorial and feedback mismatches conditions (co-location, haptic misalignement, visual and auditory delay). One of the main findings obtained from the experiment made is that, for a selection task, there is a difference in the tolerance to mismatches depending on the correspondence condition between visual and proprioceptive workspaces. The analysis of the sense of presence has outlined that haptic and visual renderings must be accurately synchronized to avoid possible mismatches in the haptic feedback provided.