Comparative Analysis of Spatiotemporal Playback Manipulation : Evaluating Desktop Environments versus Immersive Head-Mounted Virtual Reality Environments

Abstract: Virtual Reality (VR) is a creative tool that enables immersive learning, planning and training of surgical operations. Extensive research has been conducted in multiple surgical specialities where VR has been utilized, such as spinal neurosurgery. However, cranial neurosurgery remains relatively unexplored in this regard. The thesis project presented here explores the impact of adopting VR, using a headset and controllers, to study the cranial neurosurgical procedure of External Ventricular Drainage (EVD). In this study, pre-recorded Motion Captured (MoCap) data of an EVD procedure is visualised on a desktop monitor as well as through a VR headset. Participants were tasked with identifying and marking one key moment in the recordings. Both objective and subjective metrics were recorded, such as completion time, accuracy, precision, the usage of different interaction controls as well as through the use of a questionnaire. The comparison is done on an objective and subjective scale, analysing user performance and User Experience (UX). The results from the experiment showed that the task was completed on average twice as fast in VR compared to desktop. However, desktop showed more promise in having higher accuracy and precision. Subjective feedback showed a slightly higher preference towards the VR environment concerning system usability. However, the settings were equally comparable in terms of task load. Furthermore, a guidance laser introduced to help with depth perception showed no increase in user performance. In conclusion, VR displays promise as an alternative tool to be used for planning and educational purposes in cranial surgery. Potential future developments could focus on the increased precision in interactive in VR, with the aid of haptic feedback, minor adjustments and scalability.