Assessing User Apprehensions About Mixed Reality Artifacts and Applications: The Mixed Reality Concerns (MRC) Questionnaire

TL;DR

The paper introduces the Mixed Reality Concerns (MRC) Questionnaire, a $3$-factor, $9$-item instrument designed to quantify user apprehensions about MR artifacts and applications across Security & Privacy, Social Implications, and Trust. It follows a structured scale-development pipeline—conceptual framework, item generation, expert feedback, and three survey waves—culminating in robust psychometrics: $KMO=0.93$ for EFA, a three-factor solution with strong internal consistency ($ ext{α}$ ranging from $0.79$ to $0.92$) and confirmatory factor analysis fit indices ($ ext{TLI}=0.98$, $ ext{CFI}=0.99$, $ ext{RMSEA}=0.059$). The scale differentiates between MR prototypes with varying concerns, shows convergent validity with the Perceived Creepy Technology Scale (PCTS) and divergent validity from hedonic UEQ dimensions, and demonstrates acceptable test-retest reliability ($r=0.85$). This instrument provides a focused, efficient means to capture user concerns that can complement usability metrics and inform MR design, policy, and further research. The authors also discuss limitations (cultural scope, exposure testing) and advocate for broader cross-cultural validation and real MR-context evaluations.

Abstract

Current research in Mixed Reality (MR) presents a wide range of novel use cases for blending virtual elements with the real world. This yet-to-be-ubiquitous technology challenges how users currently work and interact with digital content. While offering many potential advantages, MR technologies introduce new security, safety, and privacy challenges. Thus, it is relevant to understand users' apprehensions towards MR technologies, ranging from security concerns to social acceptance. To address this challenge, we present the Mixed Reality Concerns (MRC) Questionnaire, designed to assess users' concerns towards MR artifacts and applications systematically. The development followed a structured process considering previous work, expert interviews, iterative refinements, and confirmatory tests to analytically validate the questionnaire. The MRC Questionnaire offers a new method of assessing users' critical opinions to compare and assess novel MR artifacts and applications regarding security, privacy, social implications, and trust.

Figures (4)

• Figure 1: The process of developing the scale, as this paper outlines.
• Figure 2: The result of the CFA confirms this three-factor model for the scale, with moderate correlations between the subscales and mostly high item coefficients.
• Figure 3: The main diagonal shows the histograms of each metric; the lower triangular shows the correlation plots between the metrics, and the upper triangular shows the corresponding r-values for the different scales under comparison. It is evident that the MRC and PCTS wozniakCreepyTechnologyWhat2021 highly correlate. Furthermore, the MRC correlates with both the Attractiveness and Dependability subscales of the UEQ schreppConstructionBenchmarkUser2017a.
• Figure 4: The different subscale and overall scores for both runs of the third survey. Furthermore, the Pearson product-moment correlation is given for all plots.