The interaction efficiency of different visual areas on a virtual reality interaction space: Standing versus sitting posture

User posture and visual area can impact searching-selecting efficiency, thereby influencing interaction efficiency. Virtual Reality (VR) devices extend the traditional two-dimensional interface to a three-dimensional interaction space, requiring users to alter their body postures when using them. This study compared the searching-selecting efficiency of different postures (standing and sitting) and visual areas in a VR environment. An experiment measured thirty-five participants’ searching and selecting times for targets under different conditions. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the interaction efficiency was generally higher for participants in a sitting posture than in a standing posture. Participants spent less time searching for left side targets than in other visual areas. However, the interaction effect between posture and visual area was not significant. These results suggest that posture and visual areas respectively influence searching-selecting efficiency in VR environments. These findings could provide insights for VR developers to enhance interaction design, particularly interface design, for different user postures, thus supporting interaction efficiency and user experience.