Presence Equation: An Investigation into Cognitive Factors Underlying Presence

Psychological approaches to the study of presence are limited, and those with experimental support even more limited. This work is an attempt to highlight the human factors involved which may lead to a better understanding of individual differences in relation to the experience of presence. We investigated the relationship between four cognitive factors namely absorption, creative imagination, empathy and cognitive style, and their effect upon the experienced users’ sense of presence. The results enable us to describe a presence equation, employing a deeper and more thorough approach to the psychology of presence.