Challenges of Moderating Social Virtual Reality
説明

Recent years have seen a rise in social virtual reality (VR) platforms that allow people to interact in real-time through voice and gestures. The ephemeral nature of communication on these platforms can enable new forms of harmful behavior and new challenges for moderators. We performed virtual field research on three VR environments (AltspaceVR, Horizon Worlds, Rec Room). Based on observing 100 scheduled events, our analysis uncovered 13 distinct types of potentially harmful behaviors enabled by real-time voice, embodied interactions, and platform affordances. We witnessed potential harm at 45% of our observed events; only 24% of these incidents were addressed by moderators. To understand moderation practices, we conducted interviews with 11 moderators to investigate how they assess real-time interactions and how they operate within the current state of moderation tools. Our work sheds light on how moderation tools and practices must evolve to meet the new challenges of social VR.

日本語まとめ
読み込み中…
読み込み中…
Using Virtual Reality and Co-design to Study the Design of Large-scale Shape-Changing Interfaces
説明

Large-scale shape-changing interfaces (SCIs) such as shape-changing walls offer opportunities for enhancing user experiences within buildings, e.g., for navigation. However, due to the embryonic nature of SCI technologies, designing and explaining the shape features that are beneficial to users is challenging. Previous work used virtual platforms (2D video or Projected Augmented Reality) to design SCI. This paper explores how Virtual Reality (VR) can provide an immersive experience that can help in designing large-scale SCI. We follow a co-design approach in which we use VR to obtain users’ impressions of shape-changing walls. Then, we conduct co-design sessions to understand how shape-changing walls can be designed to become ambient and blend with the environment. We report our results to guide the design of shape-changing walls as well as discuss how our approach can provide valuable insights into how a VR experience, prior to design, and can help in the design process.

日本語まとめ
読み込み中…
読み込み中…
Investigating Wrist Deflection Scrolling Techniques for Extended Reality
説明

Scrolling in extended reality (XR) is currently performed using handheld controllers or vision-based arm-in-front gestures, which have the limitations of encumbering the user's hands or requiring a specific arm posture, respectively. To address these limitations, we investigate freehand, posture-independent scrolling driven by wrist deflection. We propose two novel techniques: Wrist Joystick, which uses rate control, and Wrist Drag, which uses position control. In an empirical study of a rapid item acquisition task and a casual browsing task, both Wrist Drag and Wrist Joystick performed on par with a comparable state-of-the-art technique on one of the two tasks. Further, using a relaxed arm-at-side posture, participants retained their arm-in-front performance for both wrist techniques. Finally, we analyze behavioral and ergonomic data to provide design insights for wrist deflection scrolling. Our results demonstrate that wrist deflection provides a promising method for performant scrolling controls while offering additional benefits over existing XR interaction techniques.

日本語まとめ
読み込み中…
読み込み中…
Using Pseudo-Stiffness to Enrich the Haptic Experience in Virtual Reality
説明

Providing users with a haptic sensation of the hardness and softness of objects in virtual reality is an open challenge. While physical props and haptic devices help, their haptic properties do not allow for dynamic adjustments. To overcome this limitation, we present a novel technique for changing the perceived stiffness of objects based on a visuo-haptic illusion. We achieved this by manipulating the hands' Control-to-Display (C/D) ratio in virtual reality while pressing down on an object with fixed stiffness. In the first study (N=12), we determine the detection thresholds of the illusion. Our results show that we can exploit a C/D ratio from 0.7 to 3.5 without user detection. In the second study (N=12), we analyze the illusion's impact on the perceived stiffness. Our results show that participants perceive the objects to be up to 28.1% softer and 8.9% stiffer, allowing for various haptic applications in virtual reality.

日本語まとめ
読み込み中…
読み込み中…
"I Am a Mirror Dweller": Probing the Unique Strategies Users Take to Communicate in the Context of Mirrors in Social Virtual Reality
説明

Increasingly popular social virtual reality (VR) platforms like VRChat created new ways for people to interact with each other, generating dedicated user communities with unique idioms of socializing in an alternative world. In VRChat, users frequently gather in front of mirrors en masse during online interactions. Understanding how user communities deal with the mirror's unique interactions can generate insights for supporting communication in social VR. In this study, we investigated the mirror’s synergistic effect with avatars on behaviors and dedicated user conversational performance. Qualitative findings indicate that avatar-mediated communication through mirrors provides functions like ensuring synchronization of incarnations, increasing immersion, and enhancing idealized embodiment to express bolder behaviors anonymously. Quantitative studies show that while mirrors improve self-perception, it has a potentially adverse effect on conversational performance, similar to the role of self-viewing in video conferencing. Studying how users interact with mirrors in an immersive environment allows us to explore how digital environments affect spatialized interactions when transported from physical to digital domains.

日本語まとめ
読み込み中…
読み込み中…
MindTouch: Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Mid-Air Tactile Perception
説明

As we constantly seek to improve and expand upon the capabilities of technology, we frequently wonder whether we use technology to its fullest extent. Studies indicate that increasing our awareness and mindfulness of our senses may lead to a journey of unexplored experiences. In this paper, we focus on the perception of mid-air haptics stimuli and whether it can be improved through mindfulness meditation. We have conducted an experiment with 22 participants given the task to recognize digits 0 to 9 drawn on their palms using a mid-air haptic device under two conditions - with and without prior mindfulness meditation. Results show that for frequencies targeting both Meissner (40 Hz) and Pacinian (200 Hz) receptors, meditation significantly improves performance of the participants, as well as increases their confidence. This suggests that including a short meditation step in haptic user interfaces could lead to improved system performance and user satisfaction.

日本語まとめ
読み込み中…
読み込み中…