Prototyping Hybrid Socialization in Commercial Social VR Platforms using 1.5-Player Interaction Metaphors
Christian Salvador | Supervised by Lora Oehlberg
Abstract
Video games can inspire suitable interaction designs for use in hybrid environments involving synchronous interactions between remote users as if co-located. For instance, one user may participate in Augmented Reality (AR) and another completely in Virtual Reality (VR). Furthermore, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research has only scratched the surface in leveraging commercial social VR platforms to prototype socialization research. In our research, we explore "1.5-player" video games (1.5PVGs) as a source of inspiration to design interactions for hybrid realities. Additionally, we explore an approach to using social VR platforms (such as VRChat and Resonite) to prototype a hybrid reality experience using those same interactions. Our project hopes to inform future hybrid socialization work through reflection of our findings and approach.
Motivation and Problem
In-person and online communities often host social gatherings to socialize among peers with similar interests.
For example, annual anime conventions like Calgary's Otafest is an in-person gathering that brings together fans to celebrate their shared interest in the anime industry.
Similar events online, such as the Virtual Market (VKet) hosted on the social Virtual Reality (VR) platform VRChat, brings together VR content creators and enthusiasts to celebrate their shared interest in VR.
However, there are benefits and drawbacks of both spaces.
An in-person gathering leverages physical presence to enrich the bond between attendees but accessibility may be limited and could exclude certain individuals.
Conversely, online gatherings leverage the accessibility of a virtual space but suffer from a lack of physical presence resulting in a sense of disconnection between remote users.
Introducing hybrid socialization by bridging these two spaces to combine their complementary advantages would institute hybrid social gatherings.
As an example, developing a hybrid social experience that couples a remote attendee to an in-person attendee at a physical event would especially benefit individuals with disabilities.
This would provide a near-authentic experience of a physical gathering that would otherwise be barred from them.
However, hybrid socialization has challenges that we must address before real-world implementation: How can we design and prototype hybrid socialization so that we can examine and preview alternative experiences?
Proposed Solution and Method
To address part of this challenge, we propose using VR to prototype hybrid reality experiences, specifically social VR platforms.
VR has been a suitable platform to prototype in-person experiences and is extensively used in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research for simulating without situated constraints.
Additionally, affordable VR equipment and commercial social VR platforms with established user bases (such as VRChat and Resonite) offer additional ways to experiment with hybrid socialization.
Social VR platforms provide tools for authoring worlds and are capable of handling large-scale socialization.
Furthermore, social VR platforms allow users to display high levels of embodiment and expression with avatars and tracking systems.
Thus, we believe social VR provides a convenient platform to support prototyping hybrid social experiences.
However, despite these tools and platforms, socialization in hybrid realities presents asymmetrical interaction between users, where one may be situated in VR and another in Augmented Reality (AR).
This may have a negative impact on the quality of immersion and interactions.
We propose exploring interaction metaphors in video game design, specifically cooperative games that we define as "1.5-player" video games (1.5PVGs) to design appropriate hybrid social interactions.
We define 1.5PVGs as cooperative games that involve both a "full" player and a "half" player who are both simultaneously controlling a character in a game.
Additionally, the half player's character supports and depends on the full player's character, much like a sidekick.
With this in mind, we can design hybrid social interactions for an experience where a remote VR user, representing the half player, will act as a companion to an in-person AR user, representing the full player, to virtually participate in a physical event.
Looking into using video game design and social VR to prototype hybrid socialization, we posed two questions our project addresses:
RQ1. How can 1.5PVGs serve as inspiration for designing technology for hybrid socialization?
RQ2. How can social VR platforms be used to prototype hybrid socialization experiences?
Contribution & Significance
This project aims to explore new approaches to prototyping hybrid socialization, and exploring technology-mediated relationships between in-person and virtual attendees. In this portfolio page, I have provided a demonstration video of the prototype I developed in the time I had for this project. The overall goal of this project is to inform future work on hybrid socialization, while also laying the groundwork for future user studies on this particular project.