Can voice responsive VR art experiences improve wellbeing?

This paper outlines the design journey of two VR artworks – AudioVirtualizer (2019) and VRoar (2023) - to inform the development of future VR artwork. A central premise of the first two interfaces is that abstract graphics are manipulated by live sound in VR: the AudioVirtualizer uses precomposed music and soundscapes or microphone input to move and deform graphics (van ’t Klooster & Collins, 2021) and VRoar is fully voice responsive (van ’t Klooster, & Collins, 2024). From informally observing people interact with these interfaces, we suspected through participant reflections that there had been an increase in positive emotions obtained from the VR art experience. To validate this, we evaluated both interfaces using a questionnaire before and after the experience, during an exhibition in the Holden Gallery in Manchester and across various venues in the Northeast of England. Forty-one participants experienced VRoar and fifty people experienced the AudioVirtualizer. From the evaluation we learned that a short-term increase in positive emotions is achievable from designed VR art experiences. The AudioVirtualizer achieved this for the group of non-trained singers and the VRoar interface achieved it for trained singers. Singers and non-singers engaged differently suggesting a tailored design is required. This paper presents qualitative and quantitative findings to highlight the impact on participants’ wellbeing as well as how feedback will inform the design of the next interface.