# An Analysis of Physiological and Psychological Responses in Virtual Reality and Flat Screen Gaming

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.09690 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.09690/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 16 Jun 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Low-Rank Adaptation of Time Series Foundational Models for Out-of-Domain Modality Forecasting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.10216/) (2024)
- [Deep Learning-Based Visual Fatigue Detection Using Eye Gaze Patterns in VR](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.12994/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Recent research has focused on the effectiveness of Virtual Reality (VR) in games as a more immersive method of interaction. However, there is a lack of robust analysis of the physiological effects between VR and flatscreen (FS) gaming. This paper introduces the first systematic comparison and analysis of emotional and physiological responses to commercially available games in VR and FS environments. To elicit these responses, we first selected four games through a pilot study of 6 participants to cover all four quadrants of the valence-arousal space. Using these games, we recorded the physiological activity, including Blood Volume Pulse and Electrodermal Activity, and self-reported emotions of 33 participants in a user study. Our data analysis revealed that VR gaming elicited more pronounced emotions, higher arousal, increased cognitive load and stress, and lower dominance than FS gaming. The Virtual Reality and Flat Screen (VRFS) dataset, containing over 15 hours of multimodal data comparing FS and VR gaming across different games, is also made publicly available for research purposes. Our analysis provides valuable insights for further investigations into the physiological and emotional effects of VR and FS gaming.