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Virtual reality provides an eyewitness experience that is similar to real life

  • Arden University
    ,
  • Bournemouth University
Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
 Peer-review

Open access

Abstract

Traditional methods used for presenting to-be-remembered events in eyewitness memory research are often criticized for lacking scientific rigor. Videos lack ecological validity, and though staged live events are realistic, they lack experimental control. Virtual reality (VR) has been proposed as a promising alternative, offering immersive realism in a controlled environment. In this study, 141 participants viewed an event either live, on video, or in VR. Presence, emotional experience, heart rate, and recall were compared across groups, and it was seen that the VR experience was highly similar to the live-event group. The video group reported significantly lower presence, ecological validity, and heart rate changes compared to the VR group. These findings suggest that VR can offer a highly realistic witness experience while maintaining experimental control, making it a valuable tool for eyewitness memory research.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output:
Contribution to journal
Article
 Peer-review

Original language

English

Article number

e70099

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Applied Cognitive Psychology (Volume 39, Issue 4)

Publication milestones

  • Accepted/In press - 13/07/2025
  • Published - 19/07/2025

Publication status

Published - 19/07/2025

ISSN

0888-4080

Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/626720
  • Scopus: 105011291880

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