Abstract This study aimed to test the validity of visual representations of food products in virtual reality by comparing descriptions of a set of actual vs. virtual cookies. This validation is key to future applications of virtual reality in sensory studies. Ten commercial cookies were virtualized by photogrammetry then configured inside virtual sensory booths designed using Unity and presented via a first-version HTC Vive virtual reality headset. Flash profiling was used to determine changes in relative weight of the perceptual dimensions in the product space and compare descriptions of actual vs. virtual product appearance. Conventional profiling of both actual and virtual products then served to determine whether common sensory dimensions carry the same kind of weight in both real and virtual sensory spaces and show similar ranges of difference among products. The results showed that descriptions of virtual cookies were close to descriptions of the actual cookies. Brightness carried more weight in the perceptual space of actual products whereas color contrast carried more weight in the perceptual space of virtual products. However, this difference may have arisen from software-setting configurations that could be optimized for a better match. Taken together, the results of this study offer promising perspectives for the use of virtual products in sensory and consumers studies.

中文翻译：

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虚拟现实中食品视觉属性感知的验证

摘要 本研究旨在通过比较一组实际和虚拟饼干的描述来测试虚拟现实中食品的视觉表示的有效性。这种验证是虚拟现实在感官研究中未来应用的关键。十个商业 cookie 通过摄影测量进行虚拟化，然后在使用 Unity 设计的虚拟感官展台内进行配置，并通过第一版 HTC Vive 虚拟现实耳机呈现。Flash 分析用于确定产品空间中感知维度的相对权重变化，并比较实际与虚拟产品外观的描述。然后，对实际和虚拟产品的常规分析可用于确定常见的感官尺寸在真实和虚拟感官空间中是否具有相同的重量，并显示产品之间的相似差异范围。结果表明，虚拟 cookie 的描述与实际 cookie 的描述接近。亮度在实际产品的感知空间中占有更大的权重，而色彩对比在虚拟产品的感知空间中占有更大的权重。但是，这种差异可能是由可以优化以获得更好匹配的软件设置配置引起的。总之，这项研究的结果为在感官和消费者研究中使用虚拟产品提供了有前景的前景。结果表明，虚拟 cookie 的描述与实际 cookie 的描述接近。亮度在实际产品的感知空间中占有更大的权重，而色彩对比在虚拟产品的感知空间中占有更大的权重。但是，这种差异可能是由可以优化以获得更好匹配的软件设置配置引起的。总之，这项研究的结果为在感官和消费者研究中使用虚拟产品提供了有前景的前景。结果表明，虚拟 cookie 的描述与实际 cookie 的描述接近。亮度在实际产品的感知空间中占有更大的权重，而色彩对比在虚拟产品的感知空间中占有更大的权重。但是，这种差异可能是由可以优化以获得更好匹配的软件设置配置引起的。总之，这项研究的结果为在感官和消费者研究中使用虚拟产品提供了有前景的前景。