Will Neural 3D Object Representations be the Silver Bullet for Improving VR Experience in HMDs?

We evaluate the presence and cybersickness scores of Virtual Reality (VR) applications using a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) with different: (i) 3D objects in non-neural and neural representations and (ii) interaction modes in 0-, 3-, and 6-DoF (Degrees-of-Freedom). The presence score indicates how much an HMD user feels like they are there, while the cybersickness score represents how much an HMD user reports discomfort. These two scores impose crucial impacts on VR experience in HMDs. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first work investigating the VR Quality-of-Experience (QoE) of the latest neural 3D object representations, including 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS). The results from our user study reveal the benefits of 3DGS, it: (i) delivers the highest presence scores; (ii) achieves the lowest cybersickness scores; (iii) reaches the full frame rates; and (iv) consumes the least storage space. We also found that the 6-DoF interaction mode increases the presence scores and reduces the cybersickness scores, compared to 0- and 3-DoF interaction modes in most cases. The findings from our user study shed some light on future investigations into many other factors of VR QoE in HMDs.