Exploring the Flow Experience of Virtual Reality in the Creative Process

VR technology has shown itself to have not only a wide range of applications, but also promising commercial value. Recently, the use of VR in art has caught the eye and since then VR has been considered a tool that may be used in art creation. Spatial presence and flow experience are among the key factors that VR is composed of. As it is not yet clear how VR is linked to the experience of flow, and its association with the creative process and with creativity is unknown, this paper focuses on investigating flow experience. It uses grounded theory and utilizes in-depth interviews conducted with visual artists to examine how VR technology impacts upon flow experience and the process of creating a work of art. The results compare the creative process with and without VR. The experiences of flow within the process are different in the two sets of conditions. The formation of flow experience with the assistance of VR is immediate and more intense than without it. Flow experience may itself be another source of creativity. A theoretical model is proposed, indicating when flow experience arises in art creation both with and without VR. An effect, Pseudo reality, is defined to aid the formation of flow experience with VR. In practice, VR can enhance performance in art, and visual artists can refer to the creative process model that is proposed.