Investigating Environments' and Avatars' Effects on Thermal Perception in Virtual Reality to Reduce Energy Consumption

TL;DR

This paper addresses how immersive VR design—specifically color temperature and avatar-associated thermal cues—affects human thermal perception and thermophysiology to reduce energy consumption. It outlines three controlled experiments: localized virtual heating, embodiment with hot/cold hands using a rubber-hand illusion framework, and a disentanglement study separating color-temperature from thermal cues. The expected contributions include insights into how VR can manipulate perceived temperature and thermal comfort without actual heating or cooling, informing energy-efficient interface design. The work aims to support sustainable energy practices by leveraging perceptual cues in immersive environments.

Abstract

Understanding thermal regulation and subjective perception of temperature is crucial for improving thermal comfort and human energy consumption in times of global warming. Previous work shows that an environment's color temperature affects the experienced temperature. As virtual reality (VR) enables visual immersion, recent work suggests that a VR scene's color temperature also affects experienced temperature. In addition, virtual avatars representing thermal cues influence users' thermal perception and even the body temperature. As immersive technology becomes increasingly prevalent in daily life, leveraging thermal cues to enhance thermal comfort - without relying on actual thermal energy - presents a promising opportunity. Understanding these effects is crucial for optimizing virtual experiences and promoting sustainable energy practices. Therefore, we propose three controlled experiments to learn more about thermal effects caused by virtual worlds and avatars.

Figures (2)

• Figure 2: We aim to conduct a rubber-hand illusion experiment Botvinick1998Kocur22RHI to examine whether the thermal effects induced by the avatar arise from the sense of embodiment in an avatar representing extreme thermal conditions (hot on the left, cold on the right) or simply from the presence of thermal cues, regardless of embodiment sensations. We hypothesize that synchronous stroking of the virtual and real hand will produce greater thermal effects than asynchronous stroking.
• Figure 3: The virtual cave environments with the cold cues (top) and hot cues (bottom) in 12500 K (left) and 4500 K (right) conditions. In this experiment, we plan to explore if thermal effects caused by the virtual environment are induced due to the color temperature or the thermal associations connected with the virtual environment (i.e., fire environment triggers heat associations that in turn changes thermal responses).