@article{GallRothStauffertetal.2021,
  author    = {Gall, Dominik and Roth, Daniel and Stauffert, Jan-Philipp and Zarges, Julian and Latoschik, Marc Erich},
  title     = {Embodiment in Virtual Reality Intensifies Emotional Responses to Virtual Stimuli},
  series = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Psychology},
  issn      = {1664-1078},
  doi       = {10.3389/fpsyg.2021.674179},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-245624},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Modulating emotional responses to virtual stimuli is a fundamental goal of many immersive interactive applications. In this study, we leverage the illusion of illusory embodiment and show that owning a virtual body provides means to modulate emotional responses. In a single-factor repeated-measures experiment, we manipulated the degree of illusory embodiment and assessed the emotional responses to virtual stimuli. We presented emotional stimuli in the same environment as the virtual body. Participants experienced higher arousal, dominance, and more intense valence in the high embodiment condition compared to the low embodiment condition. The illusion of embodiment thus intensifies the emotional processing of the virtual environment. This result suggests that artificial bodies can increase the effectiveness of immersive applications psychotherapy, entertainment, computer-mediated social interactions, or health applications.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SteinhaeusserOberdoerfervonMammenetal.2022,
  author    = {Steinhaeusser, Sophia C. and Oberd{\"o}rfer, Sebastian and von Mammen, Sebastian and Latoschik, Marc Erich and Lugrin, Birgit},
  title     = {Joyful adventures and frightening places - designing emotion-inducing virtual environments},
  series = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality},
  volume    = {3},
  journal   = {Frontiers in Virtual Reality},
  issn      = {2673-4192},
  doi       = {10.3389/frvir.2022.919163},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-284831},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Virtual environments (VEs) can evoke and support emotions, as experienced when playing emotionally arousing games. We theoretically approach the design of fear and joy evoking VEs based on a literature review of empirical studies on virtual and real environments as well as video games' reviews and content analyses. We define the design space and identify central design elements that evoke specific positive and negative emotions. Based on that, we derive and present guidelines for emotion-inducing VE design with respect to design themes, colors and textures, and lighting configurations. To validate our guidelines in two user studies, we 1) expose participants to 360° videos of VEs designed following the individual guidelines and 2) immerse them in a neutral, positive and negative emotion-inducing VEs combining all respective guidelines in Virtual Reality. The results support our theoretically derived guidelines by revealing significant differences in terms of fear and joy induction.},
  language  = {en}
}