Department of Information Science, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
PLoS One. 2021 Feb 5;16(2):e0246398. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246398. eCollection 2021.
The Information Retrieval user experience has remained largely unchanged since its inception for computers and mobile devices alike. However, recent developments in Virtual Reality hardware (pioneered by Oculus Rift in 2013) could introduce a new environment for Information Retrieval. This paper reports the results of a Scoping Literature Review (PRISMA-ScR) by rigorously examining the entire body of relevant literature with reproducible methods. The following research questions are answered: "What prototypes and concepts of Virtual Reality Information Retrieval systems with current generation hardware exist?", "How are user interaction and especially user input realised in these systems?", "What Retrieval features are used in these systems?", "How are search results displayed in these systems?" and "Can these VR IR systems compare to traditional (non-VR) IR systems?". After querying Google Scholar, Scopus and Web of Science, 1042 documents were reviewed in depth. Key features and attributes of the systems are summarised and discussed. Sketches of the user interfaces are included as well. The 30 documents that were relevant to the research questions include 16 distinct systems or theories. They discuss and utilise several user input technologies, ranging from controllers, voice input or hand tracking. Although conventional retrieval features are less common, systems enable retrieval of literature, 3D objects, images, books and texts and arrange them in a virtual space (e.g. as grids, arcs or maps). Finally, many of these systems were compared to conventional counterparts through user evaluation (n = 10). Most found user task times to be shorter or equal (n = 5, n = 3). In the seven papers that measured user performance (rate of correct solutions), three reported better performance (one equal). Notably, users always were more satisfied with the Virtual Reality systems compared to conventional ones. Possible limitations of these evaluations are demographic selection and the quality of baseline systems (control).
自计算机和移动设备问世以来，信息检索的用户体验基本保持不变。然而，虚拟现实硬件（由 2013 年的 Oculus Rift 开创）的最新发展可能会为信息检索带来新的环境。本文通过严格使用可重现的方法检查整个相关文献，报告了范围文献综述（PRISMA-ScR）的结果。回答了以下研究问题：“当前一代硬件的虚拟现实信息检索系统有哪些原型和概念？”、“这些系统如何实现用户交互，特别是用户输入？”、“这些系统使用了哪些检索功能？”、“这些系统如何显示搜索结果？”和“这些 VR IR 系统能与传统（非 VR）IR 系统相比吗？”。在查询 Google Scholar、Scopus 和 Web of Science 之后，深入审查了 1042 份文件。总结和讨论了系统的关键功能和属性，并包括了用户界面的草图。与研究问题相关的 30 份文件包括 16 个不同的系统或理论。它们讨论并利用了几种用户输入技术，从控制器、语音输入或手部跟踪器。虽然传统的检索功能不太常见，但系统能够检索文献、3D 对象、图像、书籍和文本，并将它们排列在虚拟空间中（例如，作为网格、弧形或地图）。最后，许多这样的系统通过用户评估（n=10）与传统的对应系统进行了比较。大多数发现用户完成任务的时间更短或相等（n=5，n=3）。在七篇测量用户绩效（正确解决方案的比率）的论文中，有三篇报告了更好的绩效（一篇相等）。值得注意的是，与传统系统相比，用户总是对虚拟现实系统更满意。这些评估的可能限制包括人口选择和基线系统（对照）的质量。
