It is proposed that the degree of immersion can be objectively assessed as the characteristics of a technology, and has dimensions such as the extent to which a display system can deliver an inclusive, extensive, surrounding, and vivid illusion of virtual environment to a participant.
A questionnaire for eliciting presence in virtual environments together with a questionnaire for measuring a person’s immersive tendencies and Witmer and Singer define immersion as the person's response to the VE system, which is unfortunate, but not a matter of any great concern.
A working definition of the Sense of Embodiment is provided which states that SoE consists of three subcomponents: the sense of self-location, thesense of agency, and the senseof body ownership.
The idea of stacking depth, that is, where a participant can simulate the process of entering the virtual environment while already in such an environment, which can be repeated to several levels of depth, is introduced.
It is concluded that, although such questionnaires may be useful when all subjects experience the same type of environment, their utility is doubtful for the comparison of experiences across environments, such as immersive virtual compared to real, or desktop compared to immersive virtual.
This note addresses the confounding of the term 'presence' with several different distinct aspects of experience, and an analogy with colour science is pursued, specifically the difference between wavelength distribution and perception of colour.
Real walking through the enhanced version of Slater's visual-cliff virtual environment yielded a strikingly compelling virtual experience, suggesting that substantial potential presence gains can be had from tracking all limbs and customizing avatar appearance.
The studies suggest that subjective rating of presence is enhanced by the walking method provided that participants associate subjectively with the virtual body provided in the environment.