Avatar-Mediated Communication in Social VR: An In-depth Exploration of Older Adult Interaction in an Emerging Communication Platform
Open accessAbstract
While HCI researchers have begun designing personalised VR experiences for older adults, there has been limited research examining the use of social VR - where users interact via avatars in a virtual environment. Avatar-mediated communication (AMC) is a crucial component of the social VR experience, but older users’ experience with AMC is poorly understood. We conducted a five-month study with 16 older adults evaluating a co-designed social VR prototype. Results show that AMC in social VR was seen as medium that supported introverted users to express themselves and was viewed as offering advantages when discussing sensitive topics. Our study provides new insights into how older adults view AMC in social VR as a communication medium and we contribute six design reflections, based on our results, that highlight the steps that can be taken to ensure that AMC in social VR can meet the communication needs of older users.
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IVR is still considered too complicated for older adults to engage with as a means of taking part in social networking experiences when compared with face-to-face communication and other computer-mediated technologies such as FaceTime or Skype.
“However, IVR is still considered too complicated for older adults to engage with as a means of taking part in these social networking experiences when compared with face-to-face communication as well as other computer-mediated technologies such as FaceTime or Skype [7].”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [7]
Section 6.1 says some older participants found avatar-mediated communication in social VR too complex compared with FaceTime or Skype and inferior to face-to-face communication. The claim overgeneralizes that view to older adults and implies the complexity prevents them from engaging, whereas the paper reports mixed views among participants who did use the system. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCurrent research supports the need for improvement in existing IVR features to facilitate more meaningful IVR activities such as social interaction.
“However, current research supports the need for improvement in existing IVR features to facilitate more meaningful IVR activities such as social interaction [7].”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [7]
Some researchers had success in identifying and offering solutions to some of the nuisances reported by participants through the methodologies they used to explore this topic, such as participatory action research.
“A key finding of this review is the success some researchers had in identifying and offering solutions to some of the nuisances reported by participants through the methodologies they used to explore this topic [7,14,15], such as participatory action research.”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [7]
Evidence suggests that older adults appreciate certain features that IVR offers them, such as added anonymity, which encourages introverted participants in particular to share more in IVR social circles.
“Evidence suggests that older adults appreciate certain features that IVR offers them, such as added anonymity, which encourages introverted participants in particular to share more in IVR social circles [7].”
From Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis (2022) · cites this paper as [7]
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“Through the incorporation of avatars into networked virtual environments, IVR also offers older adults the opportunity to connect with others in a more meaningful way compared with other communication mediums [6] where meeting in person may not be possible—a reality forced upon many of us during the COVID-19 pandemic…”
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- Authors
- Baker, S., Waycott, J., Carrasco, R., Kelly, R. M., Jones, A. J., Lilley, J., Dow, B., Batchelor, F., Hoang, T., & Vetere, F.
- Affiliations
- Griffith University (AU)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- National Ageing Research Institute (AU)
- Deakin University (AU)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2021-05-06
- Pages
- 1-13
- OpenAlex
- W3125435840
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 40.72
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion)
- Own your potential (DEAKIN) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Australian Research Council (DP160101368)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Keywords
- avatar-mediated communication, social virtual reality, older adults, co-design, communication media, introversion, user experience, design reflection
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