Grzegorz Pochwatko

Grzegorz Pochwatko

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used across psychology, from research and assessment to counseling, psychological treatment, and psychotherapy, with growing applications for children and adolescents. In these contexts, VR is often treated as a relatively neutral delivery medium. This assumption may be misleading. Most consumer head-mounted displays (HMDs) have been designed primarily for adult anthropometry, including adult interpupillary distance (IPD) ranges. As a result, some children may be excluded from participation or may receive a systematically degraded perceptual experience because the device cannot be adequately aligned to their visual anatomy. This paper argues that IPD constraints in consumer VR headsets represent an underrecognized methodological and clinical problem in pediatric psychology and psychotherapy. If headset fit affects visual comfort, depth perception, attentional load, cybersickness, willingness to remain in the simulation, and sense of presence, it may also influence engagement, emotional processing, dropout, and treatment response. The headset may therefore function as a selection mechanism, shaping who is included in studies, who can tolerate intervention, and to whom findings can be generalized. Using published developmental IPD data, official headset specifications, and examples from pediatric and youth-oriented VR studies, we show that anthropometric mismatch is likely to disproportionately affect younger children and those at the lower end of the IPD distribution. Using Meta Quest 3 as a case study, we argue that pediatric VR research and therapy should treat headset compatibility as part of psychological method rather than as background technical detail.

Wiesław Kopeć, Krzysztof Kalinowski, Monika Kornacka et al.

In this article we report a case study of a Language Learning Bauhaus VR hackathon with Goethe Institute. It was organized as an educational and research project to tap into the dynamics of transdisciplinary teams challenged with a specific requirement. In our case, it was to build a Bauhaus-themed German Language Learning VR App. We constructed this experiment to simulate how representatives of different disciplines may work together towards a very specific purpose under time pressure. So, each participating team consisted of members of various expert-fields: software development (Unity or Unreal), design, psychology and linguistics. The results of this study cast light on the recommended cycle of design thinking and customer-centered design in VR. Especially in interdisciplinary rapid prototyping conditions, where stakeholders initially do not share competences. They also showcase educational benefits of working in transdisciplinary environments. This study, combined with our previous work on human factors in rapid software development and co-design, including hackathon dynamics, allowed us to formulate recommendations for organizing content creation VR hackathons for specific purposes. We also provide guidelines on how to prepare the participants to work in rapid prototyping VR environments and benefit from such experiences in the long term.

Grzegorz Pochwatko, Barbara Karpowicz, Anna Chrzanowska et al.

The rapid development of virtual reality technology has increased its availability and, consequently, increased the number of its possible applications. The interest in the new medium has grown due to the entertainment industry (games, VR experiences and movies). The number of freely available training and therapeutic applications is also increasing. Contrary to popular opinion, new technologies are also adopted by older adults. Creating virtual environments tailored to the needs and capabilities of older adults requires intense research on the behaviour of these participants in the most common situations, towards commonly used elements of the virtual environment, in typical sceneries. Comfortable immersion in a virtual environment is key to achieving the impression of presence. Presence is, in turn, necessary to obtain appropriate training, persuasive and therapeutic effects. A virtual agent (a humanoid representation of an algorithm or artificial intelligence) is often an element of the virtual environment interface. Maintaining an appropriate distance to the agent is, therefore, a key parameter for the creator of the VR experience. Older (65+) participants maintain greater distance towards an agent (a young white male) than younger ones (25-35). It may be caused by differences in the level of arousal, but also cultural norms. As a consequence, VR developers are advised to use algorithms that maintain the agent at the appropriate distance, depending on the user's age.

Wiesław Kopeć, Marcin Wichrowski, Krzysztof Kalinowski et al.

In this paper we report on a study conducted with a group of older adults in which they engaged in participatory design workshops to create a VR ATM training simulation. Based on observation, recordings and the developed VR application we present the results of the workshops and offer considerations and recommendations for organizing opportunities for end users, in this case older adults, to directly engage in co-creation of cutting-edge ICT solutions. These include co-designing interfaces and interaction schemes for emerging technologies like VR and AR. We discuss such aspects as user engagement and hardware and software tools suitable for participatory prototyping of VR applications. Finally, we present ideas for further research in the area of VR participatory prototyping with users of various proficiency levels, taking steps towards developing a unified framework for co-design in AR and VR.