This research studies the association between immersion in Virtual Reality (VR) videogames and emotional activation. Responses to a videogame in a VR setting and in a no VR setting were compared. The study uses a within-subject design with 97 university students. Heart rate and self-perceived emotional state were measured. Results show higher immersion levels and heart rate in the VR condition. Perceived emotional state predicted immersion in both conditions, nevertheless, in the no VR condition higher scores in both, positive and negative, emotions were related with higher immersion experience, while in the VR condition only positive emotions were related with higher immersion. The implications and relevance of these findings are discussed.

El estudio se dirigió a estudiar la asociación entre inmersión en videojuegos de Realidad Virtual (RV) y la activación emocional. Se llevó a cabo un diseño experimental intrasujetos, con 97 estudiantes universitarios. Se llevaron a cabo mediciones de frecuencia cardiaca y del estado emocional percibido. Los resultados mostraron que la condición RV presenta mayor inmersión y mayor frecuencia cardiaca que la condición no RV.  Los estados emocionales percibidos fueron predictores de la inmersión en ambas condiciones, teniendo que en la condición no RV, mayores puntajes en valoración de las emociones positivas y negativas se asociaron a una mayor inmersión, mientras que en RV solo las emociones positivas se relacionaron con la inmersión. Se discute la relevancia de estos resultados.

This research studies the association between immersion in Virtual Reality (VR) videogames and emotional activation. Responses to a videogame in a VR setting and in a no VR setting were compared. The study uses a within-subject design with 97 university students. Heart rate and self-perceived emotional state were measured. Results show higher immersion levels and heart rate in the VR condition. Perceived emotional state predicted immersion in both conditions, nevertheless, in the no VR condition higher scores in both, positive and negative, emotions were related with higher immersion experience, while in the VR condition only positive emotions were related with higher immersion. The implications and relevance of these findings are discussed.