XR and Virtual Characteristics

会議の名前
CHI 2025
Wearable AR in Everyday Contexts: Insights from a Digital Ethnography of YouTube Videos
要旨

With growing investment in consumer augmented reality (AR) headsets and glasses, wearable AR is moving from niche applications to everyday use. However, current research primarily examines AR in controlled settings, offering limited insights into its use in real-world daily life. To address this gap, we adopt a digital ethnographic approach, analysing 27 hours of 112 YouTube videos featuring early adopters. These videos capture usage ranging from continuous periods of hours to intermittent use over weeks and months. Our analysis shows that currently, wearable AR is primarily used for media consumption and gaming. While productivity is a desired use case, frequent use is constrained by current hardware limitations and the nascent application ecosystem. Users seek continuity in their digital experience, desiring functionalities similar to those on smartphones, tablets, or computers. We propose implications for everyday AR development that promote adoption while ensuring safe, ethical, and socially-aware integration into daily life.

著者
Tram Thi Minh. Tran
School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Shane Brown
Contxtual, Sydney, Australia
Oliver Weidlich
Contxtual, Sydney, Australia
Soojeong Yoo
The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Callum Parker
University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
DOI

10.1145/3706598.3713572

論文URL

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713572

動画
MoWa: An Authoring Tool for Refining AI-Generated Human Avatar Motions Through Latent Waveform Manipulation
要旨

Creating expressive and realistic motion animations is a challenging task. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) models have emerged to address this challenge, offering the capability to synthesize human motion animations from text prompts. However, the effective integration of AI-generated motion into professional designer workflows remains uncertain. This study proposes MoWa, an authoring tool designed to refine AI-generated human motions to meet professional standards. A formative study with six professional motion designers identified the strengths and weaknesses of AI-generated motions. To address these weaknesses, MoWa utilizes latent space to enhance the expressiveness of motions, making them suitable for use in professional workflows. A user study involving twelve professional motion designers was conducted to evaluate MoWa's effectiveness in refining AI-generated motions. The results indicated that MoWa streamlines the motion design process and improves the quality of the outcomes. These findings suggest that incorporating latent space into motion design tasks can improve efficiency.

著者
Jeongseok Oh
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju, Korea, Republic of
SeungJun Kim
Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju, Korea, Republic of
DOI

10.1145/3706598.3714253

論文URL

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3714253

動画
I Stan Alien Idols and Also the People Behind Them: Understanding How Seams Between Virtual and Real Identities Engage VTuber Fans – A Case Study of PLAVE
要旨

Virtual YouTubers (VTubers) have recently gained popularity as streamers using computer-generated avatars and real-time motion capture to create distinct virtual identities. While prior research has explored how VTubers construct virtual personas and engage audiences, little attention has been given to viewers’ reactions when virtual and real identities blur—what we refer to as "seams." To address this gap, we conducted a case study on PLAVE, a popular Korean VTuber Kpop idol group, interviewing 24 of their fans. Our findings identified two main sources of seams: technical glitches and identity collapses, where VTubers act inconsistently with their virtual personas, revealing aspects of their real selves. These seams played a pivotal role in shaping diverse fan engagements, with some valuing authenticity linked to real identities, while others prioritized the coherence of virtual personas. Overall, our findings underscore the importance of seams in shaping viewer experiences.

著者
Dakyeom Ahn
Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Seora Park
Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, United States
Seolhee Lee
Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Jieun Cho
Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Hajin Lim
Seoul National University , Seoul, Korea, Republic of
DOI

10.1145/3706598.3714218

論文URL

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3714218

動画
Raise Your Eyebrows Higher: Facilitating Emotional Communication in Social Virtual Reality Through Region-Specific Facial Expression Exaggeration
要旨

While exaggerated facial expressions in cartoon avatars can enhance emotional communication in social virtual reality (VR), they risk triggering the uncanny valley effect. Our research reveals that this effect varies significantly across different emotions. In Study 1 (N=30), participants evaluated scaled facial expressions during simulated VR conversations. We found that expression exaggeration had opposing effects: it decreased facial realism for joy, surprise, and disgust due to overly dramatic mouth movements, while enhancing realism for fear, sadness, and anger—emotions that rely on upper facial expressions typically constrained by HMD pressure. Based on these findings, we developed a region-specific facial expression exaggeration strategy that enhances under-expressed upper facial features while maintaining natural lower facial movements. Study 2 (N=20) validated this approach, demonstrating enhanced emotional intensity and contagion for negative emotions while mitigating the uncanny valley effect. Our research provides practical guidelines for optimizing avatar-mediated emotional communication in social VR environments.

著者
Xueyang Wang
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Sheng Zhao
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Yihe Wang
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Howard Ziyu. Han
Carnegie Mellon University, pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Xinge Liu
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Xin Yi
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Xin Tong
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China
Hewu Li
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
DOI

10.1145/3706598.3713688

論文URL

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713688

動画
VTuber’s Atelier: The Design Space, Challenges, and Opportunities for VTubing
要旨

VTubing, the practice of live streaming using virtual avatars, has gained worldwide popularity among streamers seeking to maintain anonymity. While previous research has primarily focused on the social and cultural aspects of VTubing, there is a noticeable lack of studies examining the practical challenges VTubers face in creating and operating their avatars. To address this gap, we surveyed VTubers’ equipment and expanded the live-streaming design space by introducing six new dimensions related to avatar creation and control. Additionally, we conducted interviews with 16 professional VTubers to comprehensively explore their practices, strategies, and challenges throughout the VTubing process. Our findings reveal that VTubers face significant burdens compared to real-person streamers due to fragmented tools and the multi-tasking nature of VTubing, leading to unique workarounds. Finally, we summarize these challenges and propose design opportunities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of VTubing.

著者
Daye Kim
Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Sebin Lee
Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Yoonseo Jun
Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Yujin Shin
Soongsil Univercity, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Jungjin Lee
Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of
DOI

10.1145/3706598.3714107

論文URL

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3714107

動画
Democratic Moderation: Exploring the Use and Perception of Votekicking in Social Virtual Reality
要旨

Extensive research has focused on community-based moderation involving selected or volunteer moderators. The ``votekick'' system represents a democratized approach allowing all users to participate in moderation. Despite its widespread use in online gaming and social VR platforms, votekicking remains underexplored. This research studies how users use and perceive votekicking in VRChat, a leading social VR platform. Through thematic analysis of discussions from the Reddit community r/VRChat, our findings reveal that votekicking serves to cope with misconduct and enforce group-specific rules, but it also perpetuates toxicity such as materializing community-level biases. While praised for its immediacy and clear messaging against unacceptable behavior, votekicking's effectiveness is hindered by its reactive nature, consensus challenges, and decision-making complexities. This research contributes to broader discussions on the limitations and advantages of direct community involvement in moderation and suggests practical design improvements to address the challenges associated with votekicking.

著者
Qijia Chen
University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Qunfang Wu
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Giulio Jacucci
Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
DOI

10.1145/3706598.3713577

論文URL

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713577

動画
"Can't believe I'm crying over an anime girl": Public Parasocial Grieving and Coping Towards VTuber Graduation and Termination
要旨

Despite the significant increase in popularity of Virtual YouTubers (VTubers), research on the unique dynamics of viewer-VTuber parasocial relationships is nascent. This work investigates how English-speaking viewers grieved VTubers whose identities are no longer used, an interesting context as the \textit{nakanohito} (i.e., the person behind the VTuber identity) is usually alive post-retirement and might ``reincarnate'' as another VTuber. We propose a typology for VTuber retirements and analyzed 13,655 Reddit posts and comments spanning nearly three years using mixed-methods. Findings include how viewers coped using methods similar to when losing loved ones, alongside novel coping methods reflecting different attachment styles. Although emotions like sadness, shock, concern, disapproval, confusion, and love decreased with time, regret and loyalty showed opposite trends. Furthermore, viewers' reactions situated a VTuber identity within a community of content creators and viewers. We also discuss design implications alongside implications on the VTuber ecosystem and future research directions.

著者
Ken Jen Lee
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
PiaoHong Wang
City University Of HongKong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Zhicong Lu
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, United States
DOI

10.1145/3706598.3714216

論文URL

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3714216

動画