Research Summary: Ageing, Digital Literacy, and Interaction Modality in Immer-sive Virtual Reality: Psychomotor Performance, Cognitive Flexibility, and Their Processing-Speed Association

A recent study investigated the impact of age, digital literacy, and virtual reality (VR) interaction modality on psychomotor performance and cognitive flexibility within immersive VR environments. The research, involving 202 adults, found a clear association between age and slower task completion times across various VR interaction methods. While digital literacy did not significantly moderate these age effects, the study highlighted that certain interaction modalities, such as 'controller direct touch,' showed a steeper age-related decline in performance, despite often remaining faster overall.

Why it matters

This research provides crucial insights into the age-related performance variations in immersive VR environments, particularly concerning interaction techniques. Understanding these differences is vital for designing effective VR-based training programs, cognitive assessments, and operational tools that are accessible and efficient across diverse age groups, thereby maximizing the utility and ROI of VR technology investments.

Key insights

• Age is consistently associated with slower task times across all examined immersive VR interaction modalities.
• The 'controller direct touch' interaction modality exhibited the steepest relative age gradient, indicating a more pronounced age-related performance decline for this method.
• Despite the steeper age gradient, 'controller direct touch' remained among the fastest interaction modalities in absolute terms.
• Digital literacy levels were not found to significantly moderate the age-related performance effects in VR tasks.

Source

arXiv — Computers and Society — https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.20719