Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31012061›Full record

ArticleBehavior research methods2020

Studying human behavior with virtual reality: The Unity Experiment Framework.

Jack Brookes, Matthew Warburton, Mshari Alghadier, Mark Mon-Williams, Faisal Mushtaq

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Behavior research methods, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
73citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
15.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

73 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 284 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
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  7. Review
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  9. Article
  10. Proprioceptive integration in motor control.The Journal of physiology · 2026
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  16. Inverse hysteresis effects in a real and virtual environment.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026
    Article
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  18. Article
  19. Training SONAR spatial interpretation using virtual reality.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2025
    Article
  20. Article

13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jack BrookesSchool of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. jbrookes187@gmail.com.
Matthew WarburtonSchool of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.
Mshari AlghadierSchool of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.
Mark Mon-WilliamsSchool of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK.
Faisal MushtaqSchool of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. f.mushtaq@leeds.ac.uk.
University of Leeds · GB

Funding

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/R031193/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Virtual reality (VR) systems offer a powerful tool for human behavior research. The ability to create three-dimensional visual scenes and to measure responses to the visual stimuli enables the behavioral researcher to test hypotheses in a manner and scale that were previously unfeasible. For example, a researcher wanting to understand interceptive timing behavior might wish to violate Newtonian mechanics so that objects can move in novel 3-D trajectories. The same researcher might wish to collect such data with hundreds of participants outside the laboratory, and the use of a VR headset makes this a realistic proposition. The difficulty facing the researcher is that sophisticated 3-D graphics engines (e.g., Unity) have been created for game designers rather than behavioral scientists. To overcome this barrier, we have created a set of tools and programming syntaxes that allow logical encoding of the common experimental features required by the behavioral scientist. The Unity Experiment Framework (UXF) allows researchers to readily implement several forms of data collection and provides them with the ability to easily modify independent variables. UXF does not offer any stimulus presentation features, so the full power of the Unity game engine can be exploited. We use a case study experiment, measuring postural sway in response to an oscillating virtual room, to show that UXF can replicate and advance upon behavioral research paradigms. We show that UXF can simplify and speed up the development of VR experiments created in commercial gaming software and facilitate the efficient acquisition of large quantities of behavioral research data.

Indexed as

Virtual RealityAdolescentAdultBehavioral ResearchChildHumansSoftwareUser-Computer InterfaceYoung AdultBehaviorExperimentSoftwareToolkitUnityVirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID31012061
PMCPMC7148262
OpenAlexW2899457298

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.