探討影響三維虛擬環境中沈浸經驗之因素

Abstract

本研究探討三維虛擬環境（three-dimensional virtual environment）的沈浸（flow）感受變化；藉由觀察技巧與挑戰的交互關係，以分析人在三維虛擬環境中的沈浸經驗。三維虛擬環境是電腦媒介環境（computer mediated environment, CME）的一種應用技術，逐漸廣泛使用在各種電腦媒體中。 本研究透過實驗法進行，自變項為認知能力與任務難度，分為高認知能力與低認知能力、簡單任務與困難任務，設計二乘以二實驗小組；應變項為認知能力前後測變化與沈浸經驗。實驗環境為虛擬社交平台第二人生（second life）。實驗共蒐集52 筆資料，結論如下。在三維虛擬環境中： 1. 認知能力越高，沈浸經驗越強烈。 2. 任務越困難，沈浸經驗越強烈。 3. 認知能力呈現增加趨勢，但仍需探討能力增加的意義與效果。 4. 資訊結構型態與一般網站應有差異，可持續研究。 5. 認知能力（技巧）與任務難度（挑戰）相互獨立。

This research aims at exploring the transition of flow and analyzing the flow experiences of human beings in a three-dimensional virtual environment, by observing the interaction between skills and challenges. A three-dimensional virtual environment is an application of computer mediated environment (CME), gradually utilized in all kinds of computer media. This research is conducted by means of experiment. The independent variables are cognitive ability, composed of high and low groups, task complicative level, composed of simple and hard groups. The dependent variables are the transition of pre-test and post-test scores of cognitive ability and of flow experiences. The experimental environment for this research is Second Life, a virtual platform for social interaction, and 52 subjects are invited to join in this experiment. According to the results, some conclusions have been made and been listed in the following. Within the three-dimensional virtual environment: 1. the higher cognitive ability people have, the stronger flow experiences they get, 2. the more difficult the task is, the stronger flow experiences they get, 3. though cognitive ability increases evidently, the meanings and effects of the transformation should also be considered, 4. differences of the information structure between a three-dimensional environment and other web-sites deserve further research, and 5. cognitive ability (skill) and task difficulty (challenge) are mutually independent.