Don’t They Really Hear Us? A Design Space for Private Conversations in Social Virtual Reality
Limbago, Josephus Jasper and Welsch, Robin and Müller, Florian and Francesco, Mario Di
Abstract: Seamless transition between public dialogue and private talks is essential in everyday conversations. Social Virtual Reality (VR) has revolutionized interpersonal communication by creating a sense of closeness over distance through virtual avatars. However, existing social VR platforms are not successful in providing safety and supporting private conversations, thereby hindering self-disclosure and limiting the potential for meaningful experiences. We approach this problem by exploring the factors affecting private conversations in social VR applications, including the usability of different interaction methods and the awareness with respect to the virtual world. We conduct both expert interviews and a controlled experiment with a social VR prototype we realized. We then leverage the outcomes of the two studies to establish a design space that considers diverse dimensions (including privacy levels, social awareness, and modalities), laying the groundwork for more intuitive and meaningful experiences of private conversation in social VR.
@article{limbagoDontTheyReally2025,title={Don't {{They Really Hear Us}}? {{A Design Space}} for {{Private Conversations}} in {{Social Virtual Reality}}},shorttitle={Don't {{They Really Hear Us}}?},author={Limbago, Josephus Jasper and Welsch, Robin and M{\"u}ller, Florian and Francesco, Mario Di},year={2025},journal={IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics},pages={1--11},publisher={IEEE},issn={1941-0506},doi={10.1109/TVCG.2025.3549844},urldate={2025-03-13},keywords={Avatars,Conversation,Design,Distance measurement,Interviews,Metaverse,Oral communication,Privacy,Safety,Security,Self-disclosure,Space exploration,User experience,VR},}
