Keywords
VR, Flow, Dynamic-Difficulty

Technologies
Unity, Qualitrics, Pimax, Miro, Github

Csikszentmihalyi defines flow as a state of heightened focus in which individuals are fully engaged in an activity, experience a sense of control, lose awareness of time, and tend to perform at their best (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). The project aims to explore whether dynamic difficulty adjustment helps to induce flow state in a virtual reality gaming environment and if so, does flow state improve a person’s performance in the game. A VR shooting range prototype was developed using Unity, featuring two versions of the same task: an adaptive mode, where difficulty adjusts in real time based on player performance, and a static mode with a fixed level of difficulty. This design allows for direct comparison of how adaptive systems influence user experience. As both a developer and data analyst, I contributed to building the prototype and analyzing user data to generate insights for more engaging VR design. Using a mixed-methods approach, including questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, my project also examines which specific game elements such as challenge-skill balance, feedback and immersion most strongly contribute to perceived flow.