Don't They Really Hear Us? A Design Space for Private Conversations in Social Virtual Reality

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Virtual Reality Studies
• Social Computing

Background:

• Social Virtual Reality (VR) enhances interpersonal communication by simulating closeness through virtual avatars.
• Current social VR platforms lack features for ensuring safety and supporting private conversations, limiting user self-disclosure and meaningful interactions.
• The seamless transition between public and private conversations is crucial for effective social interaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate factors influencing private conversations within social VR applications.
• To identify usability challenges associated with different interaction methods in social VR.
• To explore the role of virtual world awareness in facilitating or hindering private discussions.

Main Methods:

• Conducted expert interviews to gather insights on social VR privacy challenges.
• Developed and evaluated a social VR prototype through a controlled experiment.
• Analyzed usability of interaction methods and user awareness within the virtual environment.

Main Results:

• Identified key factors affecting the privacy and usability of conversations in social VR.
• Gathered empirical data on user experiences with different interaction modalities and awareness levels.
• Outcomes provide a foundation for understanding the nuances of private dialogue in virtual spaces.

Conclusions:

• Established a design space for social VR, considering privacy, social awareness, and interaction modalities.
• The findings pave the way for developing more intuitive and supportive private conversation experiences in social VR.
• Addresses the need for enhanced privacy controls and user awareness mechanisms in virtual social environments.