How do you balance realism and fiction in VR simulations without misleading or deceiving users?

1 Define your goals and audience

Before you start creating your VR simulation, you need to define your goals and audience. What are you trying to achieve with your simulation? What are the learning outcomes or desired behaviors you want to foster in your users? Who are your users and what are their expectations, preferences, and needs? These questions will help you determine the level of realism and fiction that is appropriate and effective for your simulation. For example, if your goal is to train medical students on how to perform a surgery, you might want to use a high-fidelity VR simulation that mimics the real-world environment and procedures as closely as possible. However, if your goal is to entertain casual gamers with a fantasy adventure, you might want to use a low-fidelity VR simulation that emphasizes fun and creativity over realism.

2 Establish clear boundaries and cues

One of the key challenges of balancing realism and fiction in VR simulations is to avoid creating confusion or deception in users. Users need to know what is real and what is not, what is possible and what is not, and what are the consequences and implications of their actions. To achieve this, you need to establish clear boundaries and cues that signal the nature and rules of your simulation. For example, you can use visual, auditory, or haptic cues to indicate the boundaries of the virtual environment, the transitions between scenes or levels, the feedback or rewards for actions, and the risks or dangers involved. You can also use verbal or written cues to inform users of the purpose and objectives of your simulation, the expected behavior and etiquette, and the consent and privacy policies.

3 Align with ethical principles and standards

Another important aspect of balancing realism and fiction in VR simulations is to align with ethical principles and standards. VR simulations can have a profound impact on users' emotions, cognition, behavior, and identity, and therefore, they need to be designed with respect, responsibility, and care. You need to consider the potential benefits and harms of your simulation, the rights and interests of your users and stakeholders, and the social and cultural norms and values of your context. You also need to comply with the relevant laws and regulations, as well as the professional codes and guidelines for VR design and research. For example, you can use ethical frameworks such as the VR Code of Conduct, the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Extended Reality, or the XR Association's Developer Guidelines to guide your design decisions and practices.

4 Evaluate and iterate your design

Finally, you need to evaluate and iterate your design to ensure that you are balancing realism and fiction in VR simulations without misleading or deceiving users. You need to test your simulation with your target users and stakeholders, and collect feedback and data on their experiences, perceptions, reactions, and outcomes. You need to analyze and interpret the feedback and data, and identify the strengths and weaknesses of your simulation, as well as the opportunities and challenges for improvement. You need to make changes and adjustments to your simulation based on the feedback and data, and repeat the evaluation and iteration process until you achieve your goals and meet your standards. For example, you can use methods such as user testing, interviews, surveys, focus groups, observations, or analytics to evaluate and iterate your design.

5 Examples of VR simulations

To illustrate how some VR simulations have balanced realism and fiction without misleading or deceiving users, here are some examples from different domains and genres. The Stanford Ocean Acidification Experience educates users about the causes and effects of ocean acidification, taking them to a coral reef in the present and future scenarios. It uses realistic graphics and sounds, as well as scientific data and models, while also incorporating a narrator, a time machine, and interactive quizzes to engage users. Beat Saber entertains users with a rhythm game, where they have to slash colored blocks with lightsabers in sync with music. The simulation uses low-fidelity graphics and sounds, fantasy elements such as lightsabers, neon colors, and special effects, as well as realistic elements such as physics, motion tracking, and haptic feedback. Lastly, The Stanford Prison Experiment recreates the infamous psychological experiment, where participants were assigned to be either guards or prisoners in a simulated prison. It uses high-fidelity graphics and sounds, historical elements such as the original layout, scripts, and events, as well as fictional elements like a narrator, a menu, and a debriefing to provide context and reflection. In all these examples the simulations clearly inform users of their purpose and sources of information without exaggerating or manipulating facts.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?