SAFER VIRTUAL SPACES
⟡ Design Research
Exploring Challenges of Designing Social XR
This study highlights the importance of observing user behavior in digital realities, addressing user safety.
The study emphasizes the importance of XR designers considering the experience of other users when designing and implementing any multi-user experience, as well as considering worst participant behaviour as a moral obligation. It delves into the ethical implications of creating immersive experiences and offers recommendations for XR interaction that address specific opportunity areas.
The study concludes by suggesting that the acceptance of these technologies may necessitate a shift in our current understanding of social virtues in order to make sense of how we incorporate them into the fundamental structure of everyday life and society.
The global AR and VR market has grown to $209.2 billion by 2022.
While real-time multi-user VR apps are gaining popularity only recently, the issues of harassment and user safety are already prevalent.
Virtual reality technologies are so new, certain critical ethical considerations are largely unstructured, and important foundational questions unasked and unanswered
Research Question
In what ways can I help designers create safer VR spaces?
Norms are co-created:
The evolution of etiquette in Web2 was gradual, as new technologies and online platforms emerged, and people adapted their behavior accordingly. As virtual reality becomes more immersive, it will be important to establish virtual reality etiquette that promotes a positive and respectful online community.
While these virtual reality etiquette guidelines are not yet fully formed, they will likely evolve over time as more people engage with virtual reality and as new technologies and platforms emerge.
As with etiquette in Web2, the evolution of virtual reality etiquette will depend on the actions and behaviors of its users and their willingness to promote a positive and respectful online community.
Toolkit for Spatial Experience Design
Agency and Autonomy
User not being in control of their actions.
Empowered presence
A term for the state of being in which users feel confident and in control of their virtual presence in Social VR, able to express themselves authentically and engage with others in a positive and meaningful way.
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A social distance measurement from the body that can be used to define and interpret space. Proxemics (a social assessment of distance from the body) can be utilised to define and comprehend all space—virtual or otherwise. Utilising proxemic space definitions, dialogues, and interactions similar to real-world expectations, safer social VR places can be created (Scherling et al. 2020, p. 69).
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This function allows users to exclude other users with whom they do not want to interact. A UX designer can create a user-friendly blocking interface that enables users to simply identify and block other users.
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This function allows users to silence the audio or video broadcasts of other users. A user experience designer can construct a simple and intuitive muting interface that allows users to change the volume and other parameters of their audio or video stream.
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This feature allows users to control their visibility to other users. A UX designer can provide visibility options that allow users to select who can see them and whether they wish to appear online or offline.
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This tool allows moderators to remove people who are breaking the rules of the community. A UX designer can provide moderation tools that allow moderators to rapidly identify and remove people who are misbehaving. Moderation by community members as a collective can be a powerful tool and can help in making users feel safer to know that their neighbouring users are going to look after them.
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This allows users to adjust the pitch or tone of their voice. A user experience designer can construct voice modulation tools that enable users to change their voice in order to secure their identity or better communication.
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Add simple communication gestures and easy-access shortcuts to give consumers quick-action remediation, allowing users in high-stress situations to rapidly report a poor experience without interfering with or degrading their experience further.
Toxic Disinhibition
User being in control of their actions but unaware of the effects.
Mindful Embodiment
A term for the state of being in which users feel confident and in control of their virtual presence in Social VR, able to express themselves authentically and engage with others in a positive and meaningful way.
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Including features that connect the virtual environment to the physical world can be one technique to maintain real-world context. Designers, for example, can use real-time meteorological data to create a virtual environment that mimics the weather conditions in the actual world. They can also leverage real-world news updates or events to create in-game experiences that reflect current events. These characteristics assist in grounding users in reality and reminding them of the societal norms and expectations that apply to their behaviour.
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Designers can help to remind users that the virtual environment is merely a simulation and that their actions in the virtual world have effects in the real world by introducing teleportation features that allow users to effortlessly travel between the real world and the digital world. This can benefit real-world users by lowering the likelihood of toxic disinhibition.
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Designers can also employ context personalisation to provide users with a more personalised and meaningful experience. Designers can establish a sense of ownership and customization by allowing users to personalise their virtual environment to their preference. This can boost the user's degree of comfort and engagement within the virtual world. This can contribute to a more good and rewarding social environment, lowering the chance of toxic disinhibition.
Deindividuation
User being in control of their actions and aware of the effects, but taking advantage of anonymity to escape accountability. (Bell, 2020)
Conscious Participation
A term that suggests that users are encouraged to remain consciously aware of their actions and behaviour while engaging in the virtual environment, in order to prevent deindividuation and promote positive social norms.
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A set of social expectations or regulations that encourage positive behaviour and discourage negative behaviour are known as positive social norms. Designers can include positive social norms into Social VR by developing virtual environments that promote desirable behaviour such as cooperation, respect, and empathy. This can include creating surroundings that promote collaboration and teamwork, as well as implementing social standards that promote healthy interactions among users.
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Virtual characters that reflect positive qualities and serve as role models for users are known as hero figures/mascots. Designers can inspire users to embrace positive habits and values by adding hero figures/mascots into virtual settings. A virtual world meant to promote environmental sustainability, for example, could contain a mascot who represents eco-friendly activities like recycling or using renewable energy sources.
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In Social VR, reward methods can also be utilised to limit deindividuation. Designers can incentivise users to act positively and responsibly by delivering rewards for positive conduct. This can involve rewarding users for beneficial behaviour like assisting others, cooperating with others, or adhering to social standards. Virtual currency, virtual things, and virtual status symbols are all examples of rewards.
Learning through Making
I designed multiple VR spaces, with incremental levels of immersion, and tested them with my peers. The goal was to not only learn about the role of Storyboarding, Fidelity, scale, animation, rendering, storytelling, navigation - mapped user expectations, initial thoughts, pain-points, in VR spaces while building a vocabulary of thinking for 3D spacial language.
Tools:
Unity 3D, Visual Studio, Cinema 4D & Blender.
