"Being Immersed in Aesthetic Emotions": Comparing immersive Vs. Non immersive VR in Aesthetic Emotions Elicitation

Virtual Reality (VR) changed the ways through which art is produced and also experienced by the audience. VR can convey effective emotional and aesthetic experiences thanks to the sense of presence. So far, previous studies have mostly focused on the cognitive implications of using virtual environments in aesthetic contexts. However, empirical studies testing whether and how immersion, sense of presence and engagement are able to emphasize emotional responses to artworks, compared to their simple 2D reproductions, are still scarce. In this study, we tested a new immersive aesthetic format of conventional 2D paintings consisting in a 360 degrees spherical representation of the same paintings, enriched with narratives and music. This preliminary study aims at testing the role of immersion and sense of presence in promoting aesthetic emotions, in terms of aesthetic appreciation and emotional responses. To test this objective, in a within subject-design, each participant is exposed in a counterbalanced order to the new aesthetic format consisting of a set of virtual highly immersive paintings presented in a 360 degrees environment (immersive condition) and to the same set of virtual paintings presented on a simple 2D virtual screen (non-immersive condition). Aesthetic emotions were measured through the AESTHEMOS scale containing 21 subscales covering prototypical aesthetic emotions, epistemic emotions and emotions indicative of amusement. Also, measures related to immersion, sense of presence, engagement and perceived novelty of the stimuli were assessed. Finally, self-report questionnaires measuring people's broader engagement with the arts and humanities, disposition to experience positive emotions and general aesthetic interest were administered to participants. For this preliminary study, we expected artworks to be judged more aesthetically pleasant and emotionally engaging compared to the same set of non-immersive stimuli, presented on a 2D screen. Moreover, we hypothesize immersion, sense of presence and engagement to positively correlate with higher aesthetic appreciation of those stimuli.