{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T15:22:23Z","timestamp":1772119343601,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,31]],"date-time":"2025-07-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1753920000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007659","name":"Universiteit van Tilburg","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007659","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Virtual Real."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study investigates the impact of a software-based audio enhancement tool Q6 in virtual reality (VR), examining the relationship between spatial audio, immersion, and affective responses using self-reports and physiological measures.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Sixty-eight participants experienced two VR scenarios, i.e., a commercial game (Job Simulator) and a non-commercial simulation (Escape VR), under both enhanced and normal audio conditions. In this paper we propose a dual-method assessment approach, combining self-reports with moment-bymoment physiological data analysis, emphasizing the value of continuous physiological tracking for detecting subtle changes in electrophysiology in VR simulated experiences.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Results show that enhanced \u2018localised\u2019 audio sounds significantly improved perceived sound quality, immersion, sound localization, and emotional involvement. Notably, commercial VR content exhibited a stronger response to audio enhancements than non-commercial simulations,likely due to sound architecture. The commercial content featured meticulously crafted sound design, while the non-commercial simulation had numerous sounds less spatially structured, resulting in a less coherent auditory experience. Enhanced audio additionally intensified both positive and negative affective experiences during key audiovisual events.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>In this paper we propose a dual-method assessment approach, combining self-reports with moment-bymoment physiological data analysis, emphasizing the value of continuous physiological tracking for detecting subtle changes in electrophysiology in VR simulated experiences. Our findings support software-based audio enhancement as a cost-effective method to optimize auditory involvement in VR without additional hardware. This research provides valuable insights for designers and researchers aiming to improve audiovisual experiences and highlights future directions for exploring adaptive audio technologies in immersive environments.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2025.1629908","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,31]],"date-time":"2025-07-31T05:37:39Z","timestamp":1753940259000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["\u201cDid you hear that?\u201d: Software-based spatial audio enhancements increase self-reported and physiological indices on auditory presence and affect in virtual reality"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Ifigeneia","family":"Mavridou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ellen","family":"Seiss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Ugazio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mark","family":"Harpster","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Phillip","family":"Brown","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sophia","family":"Cox","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Filip","family":"Panchevski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christine","family":"Erie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"suffix":"Jr.","given":"David","family":"Lopez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ryan","family":"Copt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Charles","family":"Nduka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"James","family":"Hughes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"suffix":"III","given":"Joseph","family":"Butera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daniel N.","family":"Weiss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"404","DOI":"10.17743\/JAES.2020.0039","article-title":"Defining immersion: literature review and implications for research on audiovisual experiences","volume":"68","author":"Agrawal","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Audio Eng. Soc."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"567","DOI":"10.1109\/TVCG.2013.27","article-title":"Aural proxies and directionally-varying reverberation for interactive sound propagation in virtual environments","volume":"19","author":"Antani","year":"2013","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph"},{"key":"B3","article-title":"Headphone and head-mounted visual displays for virtual environments","author":"Begault","year":"1998"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"278","DOI":"10.1162\/105474605323384645","article-title":"Presence and the utility of audio spatialization","volume":"14","author":"Bormann","year":"2005","journal-title":"Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"165","DOI":"10.1080\/0144929X.2022.2158371","article-title":"The effect of audio on the experience in virtual reality: a scoping review","volume":"43","author":"Bosman","year":"2023","journal-title":"Behav. Inf. Technol."},{"key":"B6","first-page":"59","article-title":"Reliability and validity of a single-item measure of presence in VR","volume-title":"Proceedings - 3rd IEEE international workshop on haptic, audio and visual environments and their applications - HAVE 2004","author":"Bouchard","year":"2004"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1109\/GEM.2018.8516445","article-title":"The importance of spatial audio in modern games and virtual environments","volume-title":"2018 IEEE games, entertainment, media conference, GEM 2018","author":"Broderick","year":"2018"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1089\/cyber.2020.0823","article-title":"Virtual reality as a pain distraction modality for experimentally induced pain in a chronic pain population: an exploratory study","volume":"25","author":"Brown","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cyberpsychol Behav. Soc. Netw."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.5430\/JNEP.V13N6P1","article-title":"Virtual reality in post-operative robotic colorectal procedures: an innovation study","volume":"13","author":"Cockerham","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Nurs. Educ. Pract."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1145\/3625008.3625042","article-title":"Spatial audio in virtual reality: a systematic review","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 25th symposium on virtual and augmented reality","author":"Corr\u00eaa De Almeida","year":"2023"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31234\/OSF.IO\/U3WC2","article-title":"Understanding spatial, semantic and temporal influences on audiovisual distance compression in virtual environments","author":"Finnegan","year":"2022"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.1002\/CPHY.C140022","article-title":"Autonomic adjustments to exercise in humans","volume":"5","author":"Fisher","year":"2015","journal-title":"Compr. Physiol."},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"699","DOI":"10.1007\/s10055-022-00678-8","article-title":"Development of a customizable interactions questionnaire (CIQ) for evaluating interactions with objects in augmented\/virtual reality","volume":"27","author":"Gao","year":"2023","journal-title":"Virtual Real"},{"key":"B100","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41597\u2010024\u201002953\u20106","article-title":"AVDOS\u2010VR: an affective video database with physiological signals and continuous self\u2010ratings in VR","author":"Gnacek","year":"","journal-title":"Sci"},{"key":"B101","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2022.781218","article-title":"emteqPRO\u2014Fully integrated biometric sensing array for non\u2010invasive biomedical research in virtual reality","author":"Gnacek","year":"","journal-title":"Front. Virtual Real. 3"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"290","DOI":"10.1162\/PRES.1996.5.3.290","article-title":"The sense of presence within auditory virtual environments","volume":"5","author":"Hendrix","year":"1996","journal-title":"Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"627","DOI":"10.3390\/app7060627","article-title":"Spatial audio for soundscape design: recording and reproduction","volume":"7","author":"Hong","year":"2017","journal-title":"Appl. Sci. Switz."},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1062876","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.1062876","article-title":"Experimental study on the influence of virtual tourism spatial situation on the tourists\u2019 temperature comfort in the context of metaverse","volume":"13","author":"Huang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e13318","DOI":"10.1111\/PSYP.13318","article-title":"Effects of emotions on heart rate asymmetry","volume":"56","author":"Kaczmarek","year":"2019","journal-title":"Psychophysiology"},{"key":"B103","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"527","DOI":"10.1162\/pres.17.6.527","article-title":"Virtual audio systems","volume":"17","author":"Kapralos","year":"2008","journal-title":"Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"284","DOI":"10.1016\/j.buildenv.2016.08.011","article-title":"Ten questions on the soundscapes of the built environment","volume":"108","author":"Kang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Build. Environ."},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2020.00020","article-title":"Audio in VR: effects of a soundscape and movement-triggered step sounds on presence","volume":"7","author":"Kern","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Robot. AI"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1109\/VR.2019.8798247","article-title":"Immersive spatial audio reproduction for VR\/AR using room acoustic modelling from 360\u00b0 images","volume-title":"26th IEEE conference on virtual reality and 3D user interfaces, VR 2019 - proceedings","author":"Kim","year":"2019"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"655","DOI":"10.1080\/14659891.2018.1489008","article-title":"Effects of smoking and paroxetine on stress-induced craving and withdrawal symptoms","volume":"23","author":"Kotlyar","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Subst. Use"},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.1007\/s11916-009-0019-8","article-title":"The use of virtual reality for pain control: a review","volume":"13","author":"Mahrer","year":"2009","journal-title":"Curr. Pain Headache Rep."},{"key":"B23","unstructured":"Affective state recognition in virtual reality from electromyography and photoplethysmography using head-mounted wearable sensors\n          \n          \n            \n              Mavridou\n              I.\n            \n            \n              Balaguer-Ballester\n              E.\n            \n            \n              Seiss\n              E.\n            \n            \n              Nduka\n              C.\n            \n          \n          \n          2021"},{"key":"B24","first-page":"4","article-title":"Towards valence detection from EMG for Virtual Reality applications","volume-title":"12th international Conference on disability, virtual Reality and associated Technologies (ICDVRAT 2018)","author":"Mavridou","year":"2018"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4002","DOI":"10.3758\/s13428-022-02002-3","article-title":"The underwood project: a virtual environment for eliciting ambiguous threat","volume":"55","author":"McCall","year":"2022","journal-title":"Behav. Res. Methods"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.1145\/585740.585752","article-title":"Spatialized audio rendering for immersive virtual environments","author":"Naef","year":"2002","journal-title":"ACM Symposium Virtual Real. Softw. Technol. Proc. VRST"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/frsip.2022.904866","article-title":"On the Relative importance of visual and spatial audio rendering on VR immersion","volume":"2","author":"Potter","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Signal Process."},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"17407","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-019-53971-z","article-title":"The effect of immersive virtual reality on proximal and conditioned threat","volume":"9","author":"Ros\u00e9n","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"B108","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1161","DOI":"10.1037\/h0077714","article-title":"A circumplex model of affect","volume":"39","author":"Russell","year":"1980","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2019.00100","article-title":"Virtual reality applications for Neurological disease: a review","volume":"6","author":"Schiza","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Robot. AI"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1109\/MCG.2018.193142628","article-title":"Sonic interactions in virtual reality: state of the art, current challenges, and future directions","volume":"38","author":"Serafin","year":"2018","journal-title":"IEEE Comput. Graph Appl."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"258","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2017.00258","article-title":"An overview of heart rate variability metrics and norms","volume":"5","author":"Shaffer","year":"2017","journal-title":"Front. Public Health"},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"560","DOI":"10.1162\/105474699566477","article-title":"Measuring presence: a response to the witmer and singer presence questionnaire","volume":"8","author":"Slater","year":"1999","journal-title":"Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ."},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.1093\/CT\/12.2.173","article-title":"Entertainment-education and elaboration likelihood: understanding the processing of narrative persuasion","volume":"12","author":"Slater","year":"2002","journal-title":"Commun. Theory"},{"key":"B36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"371","DOI":"10.1007\/s10055-021-00579-2","article-title":"Effects of system- and media-driven immersive capabilities on presence and affective experience","volume":"27","author":"Standen","year":"2023","journal-title":"Virtual Real"},{"key":"B37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/2927929.2927955","article-title":"A questionnaire to measure the user experience in immersive virtual environments","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 2016 virtual reality international conference","author":"Tcha-Tokey","year":"2016"},{"key":"B38","article-title":"Deliverable 5: Measuring presence: A guide to current measurement approaches","author":"van Baren","year":"2004"},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"111","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4939-7148-0_10","article-title":"The neurocircuitry of fear and PTSD","author":"Van Elzakker","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sleep Combat-Related Post Trauma. Stress Disord."},{"key":"B105","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4939-7148-0_10","article-title":"Facial EMG as a tool for inferring affective states","volume":"2010","author":"van Boxtel","year":"2010","journal-title":"Proc. Meas. Behav"},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"E139","DOI":"10.1161\/CIR.0000000000000757","article-title":"Heart disease and stroke statistics\u20142020 update a report from the American Heart Association","volume":"141","author":"Virani","year":"2020","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"key":"B41","article-title":"Moved by Sound: how head-tracked spatial audio affects autonomic emotional state and immersion-driven auditory orienting response in VR Environments","volume-title":"AES europe spring 2022 - 152nd audio engineering society convention 2022","author":"Warp","year":"2022"},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"628298","DOI":"10.3389\/FPSYG.2021.628298","article-title":"How to get there when you are there already? Defining presence in virtual reality and the importance of perceived realism","volume":"12","author":"Weber","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"158","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2019.00158","article-title":"Presence and cybersickness in virtual reality are negatively related: a review","volume":"10","author":"Weech","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B44","first-page":"175","article-title":"An investigation into physiological responses in virtual environments: an objective measurement of presence","volume-title":"Towards cyberpsychology: mind, cognitions and society in the internet age","author":"Wiederhold","year":"2001"},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"225","DOI":"10.1162\/105474698565686","article-title":"Measuring presence in virtual environments: a presence questionnaire","volume":"7","author":"Witmer","year":"1998","journal-title":"Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ."},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10461","DOI":"10.3390\/APP112110461","article-title":"Quantifying auditory presence using electroencephalography","volume":"11","author":"Zhang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Appl. Sci."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Virtual Reality"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frvir.2025.1629908\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,31]],"date-time":"2025-07-31T05:37:42Z","timestamp":1753940262000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frvir.2025.1629908\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,31]]},"references-count":49,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/frvir.2025.1629908"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/frvir.2025.1629908","relation":{},"ISSN":["2673-4192"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2673-4192","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,31]]},"article-number":"1629908"}}