Evaluating User Engagement and Preference in Virtual Reality and Augmented Virtuality for Interactive Storytelling.

This article focuses on comparing head-mounted display (HMD) virtual reality (VR) and HMD augmented virtuality (AV) as immersive media for interactive storytelling, particularly in gallery and museum contexts. Using an interactive narrative app called The Extended Journey, two experiments with university students demonstrated that HMD VR provides significantly greater narrative immersion, presence, enjoyment, and affinity toward computer-generated characters than HMD AV. Mediation analyses based on Sundar's Modality-Agency-Interactivity-Navigability (MAIN) model revealed that the senses of being-there and interaction partially explain these differences, with being-there also mediating empathy. While most participants preferred HMD VR, a notable minority favored HMD AV in home-based scenarios due to safety and spatial concerns, highlighting the importance of context in media acceptance.