Communicating environment protection from plastic waste via VR: Effects of realism and spatial presence on risk perception
This study tested the utility of virtual reality technologies in building public awareness of an environmental issue—the growing pollution of plastic waste in oceans. We conducted an experiment to test whether viewing of VR video would produce two anticipated immersive experiences (e.g., perceived r...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Telematics and Informatics Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772503024000070 |
| _version_ | 1797260301639352320 |
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| author | Ran Wei Shuhua Zhou Renyi He Kanni Huang |
| author_facet | Ran Wei Shuhua Zhou Renyi He Kanni Huang |
| author_sort | Ran Wei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study tested the utility of virtual reality technologies in building public awareness of an environmental issue—the growing pollution of plastic waste in oceans. We conducted an experiment to test whether viewing of VR video would produce two anticipated immersive experiences (e.g., perceived realism and spatial presence) in severely polluted oceans, and to further examine their effects on participants’ pro-environmental attitudes with regards to reducing plastic waste. Results showed that VR viewing led to higher perceived realism and spatial presence in comparisons with 2D video and audio-only conditions; perceived realism contributed significantly to pro-environmental attitude, whereas spatial presence did not. The higher the perceived realism, the stronger the pro-environmental attitude. Implications of the findings for using VR technologies for effective environmental communication are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:46:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c48ad3f75656432abfb8395696a4427f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2772-5030 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T23:23:09Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Telematics and Informatics Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-c48ad3f75656432abfb8395696a4427f2024-03-16T05:10:00ZengElsevierTelematics and Informatics Reports2772-50302024-03-0113100121Communicating environment protection from plastic waste via VR: Effects of realism and spatial presence on risk perceptionRan Wei0Shuhua Zhou1Renyi He2Kanni Huang3School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong; Corresponding author.Department of Communication & Media, City University of Hong Kong, Hong KongSchool of Journalism & Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong KongDepartment of Journalism & Communication Studies, Fu Jen Catholic University, TaiwanThis study tested the utility of virtual reality technologies in building public awareness of an environmental issue—the growing pollution of plastic waste in oceans. We conducted an experiment to test whether viewing of VR video would produce two anticipated immersive experiences (e.g., perceived realism and spatial presence) in severely polluted oceans, and to further examine their effects on participants’ pro-environmental attitudes with regards to reducing plastic waste. Results showed that VR viewing led to higher perceived realism and spatial presence in comparisons with 2D video and audio-only conditions; perceived realism contributed significantly to pro-environmental attitude, whereas spatial presence did not. The higher the perceived realism, the stronger the pro-environmental attitude. Implications of the findings for using VR technologies for effective environmental communication are discussed.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772503024000070Virtual realityEnvironmental protectionPlastic pollutionRealismSpatial presencePro-environmental attitude |
| spellingShingle | Ran Wei Shuhua Zhou Renyi He Kanni Huang Communicating environment protection from plastic waste via VR: Effects of realism and spatial presence on risk perception Telematics and Informatics Reports Virtual reality Environmental protection Plastic pollution Realism Spatial presence Pro-environmental attitude |
| title | Communicating environment protection from plastic waste via VR: Effects of realism and spatial presence on risk perception |
| title_full | Communicating environment protection from plastic waste via VR: Effects of realism and spatial presence on risk perception |
| title_fullStr | Communicating environment protection from plastic waste via VR: Effects of realism and spatial presence on risk perception |
| title_full_unstemmed | Communicating environment protection from plastic waste via VR: Effects of realism and spatial presence on risk perception |
| title_short | Communicating environment protection from plastic waste via VR: Effects of realism and spatial presence on risk perception |
| title_sort | communicating environment protection from plastic waste via vr effects of realism and spatial presence on risk perception |
| topic | Virtual reality Environmental protection Plastic pollution Realism Spatial presence Pro-environmental attitude |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772503024000070 |
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