Abstract
Numerous studies have shown the potential benefits of collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) for distributed teams. However, there are few longitudinal studies on collaboration in immersive virtual environments, and existing studies mostly examine how pairs or groups adapt over time. In a longitudinal study, we examined what does and does not change over time as individual users adapt to collaboration in virtual environments. In our mixed-methods, exploratory study, we matched 20 participants in random pairs over five sessions. We assigned each participant to complete a different collaborative task, with a different partner, in each session. Our quantitative data analysis and qualitative interview data show that adaptation to VR increased significantly over time. Presence ratings did not show change over time, but participants reported developing new ways to communicate in VR. We also identified patterns indicating a relationship between a person’s emotional state and their partner’s ability to recognize their emotion. We conclude with a discussion of our findings and provide design implications and future directions for designers and researchers in the field.
Highlights
Considerable previous work has shown the potential benefits of virtual reality (VR) in computersupported cooperative work (CSCW)
As pointed out by other researchers, design considerations for VR are mostly focused on individual user experience (Bleakley, 2020), our work proposes guidelines for enhancing social interactions and communication in virtual reality and contributes to ongoing work that aims to design better VR platforms for social interactions
We describe our longitudinal study in which participants visited the lab for five sessions, in each of which they were assigned to work with a new partner and on a new task
Summary
Considerable previous work has shown the potential benefits of virtual reality (VR) in computersupported cooperative work (CSCW). It has been examined in the context of design (e.g., Koutsabasis et al, 2012; Paes et al, 2017), education (e.g., Warburton, 2009; Freina and Ott, 2015), data analysis (Nguyen et al, 2019), and clinical applications (Larsen et al, 2009), to name just a few examples. VR provides users the unique advantage of a shared virtual environment in which spatial relationships between team members and virtual objects are maintained This presents an important advantage to people and teams who aim to work on shared tasks (Slater et al, 2000; Otto et al, 2006). People with visa restrictions can benefit from CVEs to attend meetings and events around the world virtually
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