Development and perceptual validation of an optical see-through augmented reality paradigm for performance simulation research in music

This paper develops and validates an optical see-through augmented reality (OST-AR) performance simulation paradigm for the controlled manipulation of socially evaluative cues in musical performance contexts. Its methodological contribution is a reusable, perceptually validated stimulus set: an augmented reality – mediated virtual jury expressing differentiated evaluative states, designed to support research on affective perception, attentional allocation, and performance control under social evaluation. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1, Arriaga et al.’s (2010) music-based emotion induction protocol was adapted to an audition-relevant evaluative framework, and the differentiation of satisfaction, neutrality, unpleasantness, and dissatisfaction was validated in musicians using SAM valence and arousal ratings. In Study 2, the adapted protocol guided the recording and implementation of a five-member virtual jury as AR content on HoloLens 2. Musicians with extensive jury-performance experience evaluated the stimuli via SAM, the short PANAS, and a direct emotion-identification task. Results showed reliable discrimination of the intended evaluative states, stable responses across presentation sequences, and strong differentiation in valence and affective dimensions, supporting the internal coherence of the stimulus set. Rather than framing AR as an intervention, the validated OST-AR paradigm is proposed as a tool for controlled contextual manipulation, enabling ecologically plausible simulations of performance evaluation for future experimental research integrating behavioural and psychophysiological measures.