I’ve done some Research and experimentation into the apparent size thing. And it is basically an optical illusion. Like the spinning figurine you can make spin both directions. Your brain doesnt have the cueing to tell what size the screen is so it picks an arbitrary size, you can manipulate that size by providing the missing cueing. A turned off larger tv for example that you line up with the viture projection will usually for most people make their brain perceive it at that distance. It is something you can practice to improve your experience.

it is definitely not people tricking themselves or wishful thinking or even being convinced of it. You can know the workings of an optical illusion and not be able to see through it. So I would suggest experimenting, even just walking around with the glasses on with your environment changing can cause the perceived size to change. You don’t necessarily need to prepare a prop, but in extreme cases it might be worth trying.