Social VR interview study

Thursday, April 6, 2023 12:00 am - Thursday, May 4, 2023 12:00 am EDT (GMT -04:00)

An interview study on Social VR experiences by the HCIgames group at Games Institute

We are HCI Games Group at the University of Waterloo, Canada; we are looking for participants for a 1-hour Zoom interview to talk about experiences of Social VR use. We are trying to understand how individuals use SVR, and what kind of experiences they gain from embodied interaction with other users. We also want to understand how to make these environments safer, more accessible, and potentially more immersive.

Participants’ eligibility: you must be over 18 years and be (an active) user of any Social VR platform, including but not limited to Facebook/Meta Spaces, VR Chat, Rec Room, Bigscreen VR, and so on.

What you will need to do: reflect on your SVR use and share your experiences during a 1-hour Zoom interview. We will talk about how you use and do not use SVR (in terms of specific acts like movement or general events, like collective movie watching), and about motivation to use SVR the way you do, e.g., in terms of gestures, matters of safety, or avatar customization. You may be asked to participate in the follow-up interview with the same reward and duration.

Reward: a $20 CAD gift card (per 1-hour interview).

Contact: Dr. Eugene Kukshinov at eugene.kukshinov@uwaterloo.ca (with any questions or to sign-up for the study alternatively).

Ethics clearance: this study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the University of Waterloo Research Ethics Board.