Design and development of an immersive virtual reality news application: a case study of the SARS event

Abstract

In recent years, virtual reality (VR) technologies have been applied to the field of journalism, where the concept of immersive VR news has been proposed. However, despite the fanfare, strong response, and sensational effect caused by its advent, immersive VR news remains a novel journalism paradigm that faces new challenges in its production process. Currently, there is a lack of a unified design framework, and, since most studies in this area have focused on non-interactive VR news, the understanding of the effects of more interactive VR technologies on the news consumer remains inadequate. In this study, we propose a more practical design framework for immersive VR news products. Following this framework, we designed a VR news application and conducted user evaluation in terms of media effects and user experience. Based on the experimental findings, which demonstrated that non-interactive VR news products resulted in a distracting user experience and less immersion, while interactive VR news offered improved media effects and user experience, we then derived concrete design guidelines for immersive VR news design. Finally, we highlight that this study provides a theoretical and practical reference framework for the further study of VR news.