The Difference in Measuring Reachability Distance between Using Virtual Reality Technology and Manual Measurement

The aim of the present study was to compare the difference of reachability distance which was collected by virtual reality simulation and manual method separately. Forty-two subjects (21 males) were recruited in this study. Subjects were asked to estimate the reachability distance to an approaching confederate in the real and virtual environments. Results showed that the reachability distance obtained in the virtual reality environment was significantly larger than that in the real world. A similar result was found in the two methods: subjects chose a significantly larger reachability distance when facing male confederate than female confederate. Besides, both virtual reality technology and manual measurement showed high reliability when measuring the reachability distance. Using virtual reality technology to collect reachability distance had higher reliability than using the manual method when facing male and female confederates.