Immersive Multisensory VR Transforms Tobacco Prevention Research

OVERVIEW

French University Study Uses Multisensory VR to Evaluate Anti‑Smoking Campaigns

The doctoral research of Dr. Solenne Bonneterre at Université Paris Nanterre shows how immersive virtual reality, combined with eye tracking, can be used to evaluate tobacco prevention campaigns under conditions that closely resemble real life. SENSIKS supplied the multisensory VR pod and custom content, creating realistic city environments where prevention posters compete with other stimuli.fileciteturn1file0

The Core Question

Public health agencies invest heavily in anti‑smoking campaigns – but do people actually notice and process these messages in their daily lives?

Traditional lab tests rely on static screens and forced viewing.
In reality, messages appear peripherally while people are busy navigating their environment.
The study set out to measure attention and memory under moving, multisensory and distracting conditions.

                        Key idea: if a prevention message does not win the battle for attention in real streets and
                        public spaces, it cannot influence behaviour.
                    

Why Traditional Evaluation Falls Short

Standard evaluation methods often overestimate campaign effectiveness because they create artificial viewing conditions:

Participants are asked to look directly at posters as their main task.
No competing stimuli or distractions are present.
Posters are shown one by one in quiet laboratory rooms.

This work highlights the gap between these controlled setups and the noisy, visually complex environments where prevention messages actually operate.fileciteturn1file0

METHODOLOGICAL INNOVATION

SENSIKS Multisensory VR Pod with Eye Tracking and Biofeedback

To bridge the gap between laboratory and reality, the research team used a multisensory VR cabin supplied by SENSIKS. This setup allowed precise experimental control while giving participants a credible feeling of walking through real streets lined with anti‑smoking posters.

Inside the Multisensory Pod

The SENSIKS system used in this project supports:

Three‑dimensional VR city environments for natural navigation.
Spatial audio for realistic urban soundscapes.
Eye tracking integrated with the VR display for precise attention measurement.
Compatibility with biofeedback (e.g. heart rate, breathing) for adaptive scenarios.

SENSIKS also supplied custom VR content tailored to the research aims, embedding anti‑smoking and comparison posters in multiple realistic locations across the virtual city.fileciteturn1file0

Why This Matters for Campaign Testing

Eye tracking shows which elements actually attract and hold attention.
Incidental exposure during a navigation task reflects everyday experience.
Standardised VR scenes keep conditions identical across participants.
Data can be replayed, compared and reused for future campaign designs.

This creates a powerful laboratory for testing not just tobacco prevention, but any message that depends on being seen and remembered in complex environments.

KEY FINDINGS

What Happens When Anti‑Smoking Posters Compete for Attention?

By combining multisensory VR with eye tracking and recognition tests, the project revealed how hard it is for prevention campaigns to cut through the noise of daily life – and which assumptions need to be revisited.fileciteturn1file0

Attention and Memory Under Realistic Conditions

Participants often remembered only one to two posters after navigating the VR city.
False recognitions were common, showing how hard it is to recall specific messages.
Posters frequently entered the peripheral field of view without receiving sustained gaze.
Message framing (negative vs. positive) did not guarantee an attention advantage under incidental exposure.

Simply placing a prevention poster in a visible location does not mean it will be seen, processed or remembered when people are focused on something else.

Prevention Messages vs. Tobacco Advertising

One part of the research directly compared attention to prevention posters and tobacco advertising in the same VR environment:

Both types of posters achieved modest recognition under incidental exposure.
Prevention posters showed slightly higher correct recognition on average.
High false‑positive rates highlighted how easily messages blur together in memory.

For campaign designers, this underlines the need for careful creative choices, repeated exposures and smart placement to achieve real‑world impact.fileciteturn1file0

BEYOND TOBACCO

A General Tool for Communication Efficiency and Dissemination Testing

Although the case study focuses on tobacco prevention, the same SENSIKS‑based setup can be used to test any message that appears in complex environments – from public health campaigns to corporate communication and education.

Examples of Use Cases

Evaluating alcohol, vaping and drug prevention materials.
Testing road safety and transport information in virtual stations and streets.
Assessing how hospital signage and prevention posters are noticed by visitors.
Measuring attention to ESG, sustainability and safety messages in workplaces.
Pre‑testing outdoor and digital campaigns before large media investments.

In each case, eye tracking and, where relevant, biofeedback provide objective data on who looks where, for how long and what they remember afterwards.

From Insight to Better Campaigns

The combination of multisensory VR, eye tracking and behavioural measurement helps teams to:

Identify which creative concepts stand out in busy environments.
Optimise placement and visual hierarchy of key messages.
Understand differences between target groups (e.g. smokers vs. non‑smokers).
Refine campaigns based on real attention data, not just self‑report.

This moves communication design from guesswork toward evidence‑informed decision‑making.fileciteturn1file0

DEEP DIVE

Immersive VR as a New Standard for Prevention Campaign Evaluation

A more detailed narrative of the research programme and its implications for public health and communication testing.

From Forced Exposure to Real‑World Prevention

Traditional anti‑smoking campaign tests often rely on forced exposure: participants sit in front of a screen, look directly at prevention posters and answer questions in artificial lab conditions. In daily life, people never encounter prevention messages this way. Posters and billboards appear at the edge of attention while people focus on getting somewhere, meeting someone or doing something else.

Dr. Solenne Bonneterre's doctoral work at Université Paris Nanterre set out to solve this ecological‑validity problem. By using immersive virtual reality and a multisensory VR cabin supplied by SENSIKS, her research team could place participants in realistic urban environments where anti‑smoking posters competed with everyday stimuli – just like in real streets and public spaces.fileciteturn1file0

How the Study Worked

Participants entered a three‑dimensional VR city and performed a primary task: navigating streets, following routes and finding locations. Tobacco prevention posters and, in some cases, tobacco advertising were integrated naturally into the environment. The SENSIKS system, equipped with eye tracking, measured what people actually looked at while they were busy with their navigation task.

Eye tracking: captured directed gaze, fixation time and viewing patterns for each poster.
Exposure duration: measured how long posters remained in the field of view, including peripheral exposure.
Recognition tests: after the VR session, participants identified which posters they remembered seeing.
Attitudes and intentions: questionnaires assessed perceived impact of messages.

What the Research Found

Under realistic incidental exposure, people correctly recognised only a small number of posters, often one to two per session.
Many participants made multiple false recognitions, showing how hard it is to remember specific messages in busy environments.
Negatively framed "fear appeal" messages did not automatically outperform positive or neutral messages when shown incidentally.
When anti‑smoking posters competed directly with tobacco advertising, prevention messages achieved slightly higher recognition – but both performed modestly, highlighting how intense real‑world attention competition can be.

These findings challenge the assumption that strong visuals or fear‑based messages are enough. In real streets, posters must first win the battle for attention before they can influence memory or behaviour.fileciteturn1file0

Implications for Campaign Designers and Public Health Teams

The core message from this research is simple but powerful: if a message is not seen, it cannot work. Multisensory immersive VR, combined with precise eye‑tracking data, provides a practical way to evaluate whether campaign materials genuinely break through the noise of daily life.

Instead of relying only on intuition or isolated focus groups, teams can observe how people move through complex environments, what actually attracts their eyes and what sticks in memory afterwards. This leads to better‑informed creative choices, more efficient media spending and, ultimately, more effective health communication.

Interested in Immersive Evaluation of Prevention Campaigns?

This page is an educational overview of an academic research project using the SENSIKS multisensory pod. For collaboration, implementation or further information about using immersive VR for campaign testing, communication research and public health, please get in touch.

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