Emerging adulthood is a critical developmental period for examining food- and eating-related behaviors as long-term weight-related behavioral patterns are established. Virtual reality (VR) technology is a promising tool for basic and applied research on eating and food-related processes. Thus, the present study tested the validity and user perceptions of a highly immersive and realistic VR food buffet by: (a) comparing participants' food selections made in the VR buffet and real-world (RW) food buffet cafeteria one-week apart, and (b) assessing participants' rated perceptions of their VR experience (0-100 scale). Participants comprised an ethnically diverse sample of emerging adults (N = 35, Mage = 20.49, SD = 2.17). Results revealed that participants' food selections in the VR and RW food buffets were significantly and positively correlated in Kcals, grams, carbohydrates, and protein (all p's < 0.05). Moreover, participants perceived that: (1) the VR buffet was natural (M = 70.97, SD = 20.92), (2) their lunch selection in the VR buffet represented a lunch they would select on an average day (M = 84.11, SD = 15.92); and (3) their selection represented a lunch they would select if the same foods were available (M = 91.29, SD = 11.00). Our findings demonstrated the validity and acceptability of our highly immersive and realistic VR buffet for assessing food selection that is generalizable to RW food settings one-week apart without precisely matched foods. The findings of this study support the utility of VR as a validated tool for research on psychological and behavioral food-related processes and training interventions among young adults.

中文翻译：

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验证虚拟现实自助餐环境以评估新兴成年人的食物选择过程

随着与体重相关的长期行为模式的建立，新兴成年期是检查食物和饮食相关行为的关键发展时期。虚拟现实 (VR) 技术是一种很有前途的工具，可用于饮食和食品相关过程的基础和应用研究。因此，本研究通过以下方式测试了高度沉浸式和逼真的 VR 自助餐的有效性和用户感知：(a) 比较参与者在 VR 自助餐和真实世界 (RW) 自助餐厅中的食物选择相隔一周， (b) 评估参与者对其 VR 体验的评级感知（0-100 级）。参与者包括不同种族的新兴成年人样本（N = 35，法师 = 20.49，SD = 2.17）。结果显示，参与者的 VR 和 RW 自助餐中的食物选择在千卡、克、碳水化合物和蛋白质方面呈显着正相关（所有 p < 0.05）。此外，参与者认为：（1）VR 自助餐是自然的（M = 70.97，SD = 20.92），（2）他们在 VR 自助餐中选择的午餐代表了他们平均一天会选择的午餐（M = 84.11，SD = 15.92); （3）他们的选择代表了如果有相同的食物他们会选择的午餐（M = 91.29，SD = 11.00）。我们的研究结果证明了我们高度沉浸式和逼真的 VR 自助餐的有效性和可接受性，用于评估食物选择，可推广到相隔一周的 RW 食物设置，而没有精确匹配的食物。