IEEEVR2020: Exploring the First Steps Toward Standalone Virtual Conferences

Ahn, Sun Joo; Levy, Laura; Eden, Allison; Won, Andrea Stevenson; MacIntyre, Blair; Johnsen, Kyle

doi:10.3389/frvir.2021.648575

Cited by 32 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Hubs was also used for the IEEE VR 2020 conference as an optional meeting platform. Ahn et al discuss survey results and observations made at the conference, and they provide insights about future directions for virtual conferences in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic (Ahn et al, 2021). Steinicke et al (2020) ran a preliminary study comparing group meetings in VR (headset and desktop) via Mozilla Hubs and with video conferencing via Zoom.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of Class Meetings in VR: Student Experiences of Attending Lectures and of Giving a Project Presentation

Yoshimura¹,

Borst²

2021

Front. Virtual Real.

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We study student experiences of social VR for remote instruction, with students attending class from home. The study evaluates student experiences when: (1) viewing remote lectures with VR headsets, (2) viewing with desktop displays, (3) presenting with VR headsets, and (4) reflecting on several weeks of VR-based class attendance. Students rated factors such as presence, social presence, simulator sickness, communication methods, avatar and application features, and tradeoffs with other remote approaches. Headset-based viewing and presenting produced higher presence than desktop viewing, but had less-clear impact on overall experience and on most social presence measures. We observed higher attentional allocation scores for headset-based presenting than for both viewing methods. For headset VR, there were strong negative correlations between simulator sickness (primarily reported as general discomfort) and ratings of co-presence, overall experience, and some other factors. This suggests that comfortable users experienced substantial benefits of headset viewing and presenting, but others did not. Based on the type of virtual environment, student ratings, and comments, reported discomfort appears related to physical ergonomic factors or technical problems. Desktop VR appears to be a good alternative for uncomfortable students, and students report that they prefer a mix of headset and desktop viewing. We additionally provide insight from students and a teacher about possible improvements for VR class technology, and we summarize student opinions comparing viewing and presenting in VR to other remote class technologies.

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Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of Class Meetings in VR: Student Experiences of Attending Lectures and of Giving a Project Presentation

Yoshimura¹,

Borst²

2021

Front. Virtual Real.

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“…Going forward, we want to advocate a hybrid mode of organizing conferences. While we strongly believe that in-person conferences have their own benefits, and that no online communication tool can mimic the in-person experience completely 13 , we cannot neglect the multiple advantages that online conferences offer - in addition to providing opportunities to previously underrepresented groups to attend global conferences, this will contribute towards decarbonizing conference travel after the pandemic 3,14 . In fact, several conferences have started to implement such a hybrid mode.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual meetings promise to eliminate the geographical and administrative barriers and increase accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity

Rajesh

Huang

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The COVID-19 pandemic brought a new set of unprecedented challenges not only for healthcare, education, and everyday jobs but also in terms of academic conferences. In this study, we investigate the effect of the broad adoption of virtual platforms for academic conferences as a response to COVID-19 restrictions. We show that virtual platforms enable higher participation from underrepresented minority groups, increased inclusion, and broader geographic distribution. We also discuss emerging challenges associated with the virtual conference format resulting in a decreased engagement of social activities, limited possibilities of cross-fertilization between participants, and reduced peer-to-peer interactions. Lastly, we conclude that a novel comprehensive approach needs to be adopted by the conference organizers to ensure increased accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity of post-pandemic conferences. Our findings provide evidence favoring a hybrid format for future conferences, marrying the strength of both in-person and virtual platforms.

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“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of online and virtual conferences has increased markedly [1,19]. This format has enhanced the accessibility of conferences to previously underrepresented groups -including female, minority, and early-career researchers [2,3,8,16,19].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote Scientific Conferences After the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Need for Socialization Drives Preferences for Virtual Reality Meetings

Kopacz

Knapińska

Müller

et al. 2022

Digital Interaction and Machine Intelligence

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The COVID-19 pandemic continues to exert influence on the scientific community: circumstances have forced academics to engage more frequently in technology-mediated activities, including their participation in remote and virtual conferences. In this article, we contemplate immersive virtual environments: we verify researchers’ motivations and constraints in the context of online conferences, and discover in what elements of such conferences researchers wish to participate in virtual reality (VR). A survey was administered using a computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) questionnaire among the sample of 1,575 academics with the POL-on database as the sampling frame. The results indicate that individuals’ contrasting needs and attitudes toward technology determine the degree to which they look favourably upon both remote conferencing and VR. Immersive virtual environments appear to satisfy the need for socialization; ordinary remote conferences fulfil the need for security and the achievement of fundamental conference goals, such as establishing collaboration and publishing research results. Conferences that are hosted remotely must be relevant to the needs of researchers and meet their discrete expectations; only then will such events prove valuable enough that researchers are willing to continue participating in them after the pandemic subsides.

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IEEEVR2020: Exploring the First Steps Toward Standalone Virtual Conferences

Cited by 32 publications

References 37 publications

A Study of Class Meetings in VR: Student Experiences of Attending Lectures and of Giving a Project Presentation

A Study of Class Meetings in VR: Student Experiences of Attending Lectures and of Giving a Project Presentation

Virtual meetings promise to eliminate the geographical and administrative barriers and increase accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity

Remote Scientific Conferences After the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Need for Socialization Drives Preferences for Virtual Reality Meetings

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