Presence Factors Scale (PFS): An Assessment Method for Presence in Virtual Reality (VR) Immersive Environments

The Presence Factor Scale (PFS) is a low-cost, highly applicable method for evaluating the sense of presence that an immersive Virtual Environment experience can provide. The process eliminates the need for expensive, complex user evaluations while also providing valuable guidelines for designing new VR experiences. The PFS was developed from an extensive systematic literature review that identified 23 factors affecting presence. These factors were organized into three primary categories: Engagement, Interactive Fidelity, and Sensorial Fidelity. For each factor, a score is assigned on a 1-7 scale, and the final average score indicates the overall sense of presence provided by the VE, with 7 indicating the highest presence. The PFS validation followed the recommendations of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA; APA; NCME, 2014), providing evidence based on test content, response process, internal structure, and relations to other variables. The method also demonstrated high reliability, with a test-retest correlation coefficient of 0.89. The attached file contains the complete instrument with all categories, factors, levels, and corresponding scores.