The Interaction Efficiency of Different Visual Areas on a Virtual Reality Device Screen under Standing versus Sitting Posture

User posture can exert an impact on cognition. Virtual reality (VR) devices extend the traditional two-dimensional interface into a three-dimensional space, necessitating some changes in body posture for users to interact between them. This study evaluated the interaction efficiency between users in standing versus sitting postures and the four corners of interface in VR environments. A total of 35 participants joined the experiment, in which the time the participants spent on searching and selecting targets under different conditions was measured. With a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), the results indicated that the interaction efficiency of participants in a sitting posture was generally higher than that in a standing posture. When searching for targets on the left side, participants spent less time in both standing and sitting postures than other areas. Specifically, searching for targets on the top left corner took less time in a standing posture than other areas, while searching for targets on the bottom left area took less time in a sitting posture. The results suggested that posture also influenced cognitive performance in VR environments. Moreover, the high interaction efficiency could be achieved when the interface was placed at the top left area in a standing posture and at the bottom left area in a sitting posture. These findings could provide insights for VR developers on interaction design, helping optimal interface design according to different user postures to ensure expected interaction efficiency and user experience.