Reading is a fundamental activity to obtain information both in the real and the digital world. Virtual reality (VR) allows novel approaches for users to view, read, and interact with a text. However, for efficient reading, it is necessary to understand how a text should be displayed in VR without impairing the VR experience. Therefore, we conducted a study with 18 participants to investigate text presentation type and location in VR. We compared world-fixed, edge-fixed, and head-fixed text locations. Texts were displayed using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) or as a paragraph. We found that RSVP is a promising presentation type for reading short texts displayed in edge-fixed or head-fixed location in VR. The paragraph presentation type using world-fixed or edge-fixed location is promising for reading long text if movement in the virtual environment is not required. Insights from our study inform the design of reading interfaces for VR applications.
The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (https://chi2021.acm.org/)