Automatic detection and classification of emotional states in virtual reality and standard environments (LCD): comparing valence and arousal of induced emotions

The following case study was carried out on a sample of one experimental and one control group. The participants of the experimental group watched the movie section from the standardized LATEMO-E database via virtual reality (VR) on Oculus Rift S and HTC Vive Pro devices. In the control group, the movie section was displayed on the LCD monitor. The movie section was categorized according to Ekman's and Russell's classification model of evoking an emotional state. The range of valence and arousal was determined in both observed groups. Valence and arousal were measured in each group using a Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM). The control group was captured by a camera and evaluated by Affdex software from Affectiva in order to compare valence values. The control group showed a very high correlation (0.92) between SAM and Affdex results. Having considered the Affdex results as a reference value, it can be concluded that SAM participants evaluated their emotions objectively. The results from both groups show that the movie section is supposed to evoke negative emotion. Negative emotion was perceived more intensely than its counterpart, positive emotion. Using virtual reality to evoke negative emotion (anger) has confirmed that VR triggers a significantly stronger intensity of emotion than LCD.