  Few VR applications and games implement captioning of speech and audio cues,
which either inhibits or prevents access of their application by deaf or hard
of hearing (DHH) users, new language learners, and other caption users.
Additionally, little to no guidelines exist on how to implement live captioning
on VR headsets and how it may differ from traditional television captioning. To
help fill the void of information behind user preferences of different VR
captioning styles, we conducted a study with eight DHH participants to test
three caption movement behaviors (headlocked, lag, and appear) while watching
live-captioned, single-speaker presentations in VR. Participants answered a
series of Likert scale and open-ended questions about their experience.
Participant preferences were split, but the majority of participants reported
feeling comfortable with using live captions in VR and enjoyed the experience.
When participants ranked the caption behaviors, there was almost an equal
divide between the three types tested. IPQ results indicated each behavior had
similar immersion ratings, however participants found headlocked and lag
captions more user-friendly than appear captions. We suggest that participants
may vary in caption preference depending on how they use captions, and that
providing opportunities for caption customization is best.
