More Immersed but Less Present: Unpacking Factors of Presence Across Devices

The production of immersive media often involves 360-degree viewing on mobile or immersive VR devices, particularly in the field of immersive journalism. However, it is unclear how the different technologies used to present such media affect the experience of presence. To investigate this, a laboratory experiment was conducted with 87 participants who were assigned to one of three conditions: HMD-360, Monitor-360, or Monitor-article, representing three distinct levels of technological immersion. All three conditions represented the same base content, with high and mid-immersion featuring a panoramic 360-video and low-immersion presenting an article composed of a transcript and video stills. The study found that presence could be considered a composite of Involvement, Naturalness, Location, and Distraction. Mid- and high-immersion conditions elicited both higher Involvement and higher Distraction compared to low immersion. Furthermore, the participants' propensity for psychological immersion maximized the effects of technological immersion, but only through the aspect of Involvement. In conclusion, the study sheds light on how different technologies used to present immersive media affect the experience of presence and suggests that higher technological immersiveness does not necessarily result in a higher reported presence.