The impact of VR environment for elderly short-form video viewers on flow and mental workload

The development of virtual reality (VR) technology in recent years has the potential to meet the increasingly immersive entertainment needs of elderly users. This study explored the impact of the VR environment on the flow experience and mental workload of elderly users while watching short-form videos. Two experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 developed and tested a model for VR flow experience which examined the impact of VR environments on vividness, interactivity, telepresence, flow experience, mental workload, and satisfaction. Experiment 2 adopted EEG in addition to subjective questionnaires to further test some of hypotheses from Experiment 1. The results indicate that, compared to traditional 2D short-form videos, VR short-form videos offers an enhanced telepresence through increased vividness and interactivity, thereby amplifying the flow experience. But the impact of mental workload on flow varies depending on the type of content. The mental workload has little effect on flow when watching scenery content but significant negative effects when watching educational content.