Action Units: Exploring the Use of Directorial Cues for Effective Storytelling with Swivel-chair Virtual Reality

The popularity of 360-degree video storytelling has been increasing. However, effectively guiding viewer’s attention remains challenging. In this paper, we propose the notion of Action Units (AU) as a guidance method. It aims to improve the user experience of 360-degree video for seated viewers with swivel chairs, as we call “Swivel-chair VR”. We first conducted a pilot study with four subject-matter experts to verify the practicality of AU. We then conducted a formal user study to compare the AU with two commonly used attention guidance techniques, namely “Pointing Arrow” (PA) and “Angular Shift” (AS), as well as the baseline without any guidance (BK). We applied them to a virtual tour and measured their effects on engagement, enjoyment, memory, viewers behaviors, and cybersickness. The results indicated that AU is an effective guidance as it increased the levels of engagement and enjoyment, reduced the level of cybersickness and helped users focus on target faster. Users also preferred AU for its diegetic aspects.