A Longitudinal Study of Small Group Interaction in Social Virtual Reality

Now that high-end consumer phones can support immersive virtual reality, we ask whether social virtual reality is a promising medium for supporting distributed groups of users. We undertook an exploratory in-the-wild study using Samsung Gear VR headsets to see how existing social groups that had become geographically dispersed could use VR for collaborative activities. The study showed a strong propensity for users to feel present and engaged with group members. Users were able to bring group behaviors into the virtual world. To overcome some technical limitations, they had to create novel forms of interaction. Overall, the study found that users experience a range of emotional states in VR that are broadly similar to those that they would experience face-to-face in the same groups. The study highlights the transferability of existing social group dynamics in VR interactions but suggests that more work would need to be done on avatar representations to support some intimate conversations

Effectiveness of Social Virtual Reality

A lot of work in social virtual reality, including our own group's, has focused on effectiveness of specific social behaviours such as eye-gaze, turn taking, gestures and other verbal and non-verbal cues. We have built upon these to look at emergent phenomena such as co-presence, leadership and trust. These give us good information about the usability issues of specific social VR systems, but they don't give us much information about the requirements for such systems going forward. In this short paper we discuss how we are broadening the scope of our work on social systems, to move out of the laboratory to more ecologically valid situations and to study groups using social VR for longer periods of time

Some Lessons Learned Running Virtual Reality Experiments Out of the Laboratory

In the past twelve months, our team has had to move rapidly from conducting most of our user experiments in a laboratory setting, to running experiments in the wild away from the laboratory and without direct synchronous oversight from an experimenter. This has challenged us to think about what types of experiment we can run, and to improve our tools and methods to allow us to reliably capture the necessary data. It has also offered us an opportunity to engage with a more diverse population than we would normally engage with in the laboratory. In this position paper we elaborate on the challenges and opportunities, and give some lessons learned from our own experience

Designing Virtual Environments for Social Engagement in Older Adults

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used as a platform for social interaction, including as a means for older adults to maintain engagement. However, there has been limited research to examine the features of social VR that are most relevant to older adults experiences. The current study was conducted to qualitatively analyze the behavior of older adults in a collaborative VR environment and evaluate aspects of design that affected their engagement outcomes. We paired 36 participants over the age of 60, from three diverse geographic locations, and asked them to interact in collaborative VR modules. Video-based observation methods and thematic analyses were used to study the resulting interactions. The results indicated a strong link between perceived spatial presence in the VR and social engagement, while also highlighting the importance of individual personality and compatibility. The study provides new insights into design guidelines that could improve social VR programs for older adults

An Exploration of Theatre Rehearsals in Social Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) offers potential for theatre makers to rehearse remotely in settings which are uniquely immersive. In collaboration with a major drama school in the United Kingdom, a longitudinal diary study was completed to examine the utility of consumer-grade VR for theatre rehearsals. Utilising commonly affordable headsets and general-purpose Social VR applications, 10 experienced students (2 directors, 8 actors) rehearsed scenes in VR over 3 weeks, before performing them in person. Participants detailed their experiences in diary logs and interviews, expressing the ability to work through spatial arrangements (blocking) as a full body avatar to be positively beneficial. Limitations included the absence of facial expressions and gestural nuance. Our overarching conclusion is that low-tech VR can be a useful aid in theatre rehearsals and early stages of production. In conclusion we outline design recommendations for a) using VR in theatre production and b) research and development of Social VR.</p

An Exploration of Theatre Rehearsals in Social Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) offers potential for theatre makers to rehearse remotely in settings which are uniquely immersive. In collaboration with a major drama school in the United Kingdom, a longitudinal diary study was completed to examine the utility of consumer-grade VR for theatre rehearsals. Utilising commonly affordable headsets and general-purpose Social VR applications, 10 experienced students (2 directors, 8 actors) rehearsed scenes in VR over 3 weeks, before performing them in person. Participants detailed their experiences in diary logs and interviews, expressing the ability to work through spatial arrangements (blocking) as a full body avatar to be positively beneficial. Limitations included the absence of facial expressions and gestural nuance. Our overarching conclusion is that low-tech VR can be a useful aid in theatre rehearsals and early stages of production. In conclusion we outline design recommendations for a) using VR in theatre production and b) research and development of Social VR.</p

Understanding How Users Engage in an Immersive Virtual Reality-Based Live Event

Virtual Reality combined with social functioning is a lucrative business direction. Due to COVID-19, a need for better social interaction is identified urgently both in education institutes and the business sector. In this paper, we will show two business cases where social functioning is needed. The first one illustrates how the business sector can use Virtual Reality Social Platform (VRSP) in remote events. As a case study, we have selected Spinverse’s Summer Day organized in Microsoft AltspaceVR. The second business case, in turn, classifies requirements for Virtual Reality Social platforms. This has been studied in close cooperation with XR Presence. Results show that current technologies offer many features to be used, but at the same time, there are needs for further development. In addition, more studies are needed in technology acceptance, usability, user experience, and business impact

How to get things done in social virtual reality–A study of team cohesion in social virtual reality–enabled teams

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