The Role of Physical Props in VR Climbing Environments

Dealing with fear of falling is a challenge in sport climbing. Virtual reality (VR) research suggests that using physical and reality-based interaction increases the presence in VR. In this paper, we present a study that investigates the influence of physical props on presence, stress and anxiety in a VR climbing environment involving whole body movement. To help climbers overcoming fear of falling, we compared three different conditions: Climbing in reality at 10 m height, physical climbing in VR (with props attached to the climbing wall) and virtual climbing in VR using game controllers. From subjective reports and biosignals, our results show that climbing with props in VR increases the anxiety and sense of realism in VR for sport climbing. This suggests that VR in combination with physical props are an effective simulation setup to induce the sense of height.