— PROJECT NAME
Avatars in collaborative virtual reality (VR)
— ROLE
Games User Researcher
3D Modeling
UI Designer
— Methods
Playtests (Observation)
Interviews
Surveys
SUS
— DATE
23/03/2022
— Client
Esri R&D Zürich
Read the whole paper (German)
Digital tools are now widely used for planning environments and buildings. Esri R&D developed a tool for viewing 3D landscapes and buildings in VR with others. A key question is how to represent participants (avatars) in this virtual world. Avatars that are too abstract reduce immersion, while overly realistic avatars can trigger the "Uncanny Valley" effect, especially with unnatural eyes. Personalizing avatars can help reduce discomfort.
This project used an iterative process to design avatars, incorporating research and user testing to improve acceptance. Tests showed the standard VR tour had a low SUS score of 55, but combining walking, teleporting, and flying improved usability. Menus should be simplified, and hand-tracking control could enhance natural interaction.
For avatars, one-time users may prefer simple, abstract representations, but allowing basic customization like hand color can boost immersion. Regular participants benefit from personalized avatars to avoid ethnic conflicts and reduce the Uncanny Valley effect. Highly realistic avatars should also resemble the user to maintain comfort.
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This is one of the properties people were able to walk through together in VR in one of the playtests.
Avatar concept
Based on the findings from the research and the development of the user-centered avatar prototypes, the following recommendations can now be made. These recommendations can serve as a basis for further work with avatars in collaborative applications such as a virtual tour of a building or environment.
Handling
Hand tracking should be used for VR building tours to improve natural interaction and immersion. Clear onboarding at the start is essential to ease concerns. A mix of walking, teleporting, and flying works best for navigation, with physical and VR walking available due to real space limits. Teleporting helps cover long distances, but should be used sparingly by tour leaders. Flying offers unique views but may cause discomfort for those with a fear of heights.
Walking through walls, ceilings, and windows was well-received in tests and speeds up building inspections. Users should control this feature, and a map on-screen would help with orientation. Avatars should automatically reset to the nearest floor after flying or teleporting to match real eye height and angles.
A simple, language-specific menu without submenus could include options like "Onboarding," "Draft Mode," and "Walk through walls." A meeting display should show participants and allow features like muting, teleporting to others, or following a leader. Participants could use a design mode to view details about objects or compare floor variants set by managers.
Avatar Design
Meeting participants in VR should avoid holding controllers, as it disrupts immersion without offering clear benefits. Name tags above avatars, however, were practical and not distracting.
Avatars should have a level of realism that matches the environment to prevent the Uncanny Valley effect. The degree of realism used in the last user tests was appropriate, but avatars should not be too photorealistic. To maintain immersion, avatars should resemble the person controlling them and wear business-like attire. The avatars created in this project can be used with the suggested improvements.
Avatars in one of the playtests.
Face tracking could enhance VR meetings, but it may trigger the Uncanny Valley effect, so it should be tested thoroughly before implementation.
A distinction should be made between one-time and regular participants. For regular participants, avatars should resemble the person and include all ethnic characteristics to avoid conflicts and increase immersion. One-time participants, like customers, prefer using standard avatars to save time. Neutral avatars, such as those with grey skin from this project, work well for these users. These avatars can be distinguished by name badges and pastel-colored shirts to keep the focus on the meeting.
Generic avatars for one time participants in one of the playtests.
For better immersion, it may be useful for one-time participants to make a small choice, like selecting the skin color for their hands in VR. Displaying controllers in the participant's view is also recommended unless hand tracking is used. The VR controllers should match the ones being held and show a finger animation when a button is pressed.
Read the whole paper (German)
Hands and controllers in one of the playtests.