HCI Research in Virtual Reality: A Discussion of Problem-solving

Abstract

Recent advances in Virtual Reality (VR) systems have revived interest in the field and strongly affected Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research. The problem-solving capacity of HCI research in VR is examined and discussed in this paper. A literature review of 62 publications is utilised to examine the type of research problems that have been addressed by HCI research in VR over the last three years. The results show that recent HCI research in VR mainly addresses constructive problems. The underrepresentation of empirical and conceptual problems shows that the research may have lower problem-solving capacity than desired. We address the findings by arguing for the field's need to investigate more empirical problems, formulate more conceptual work, re-examine past research questions under the new prism, and improve its dissemination process.