Designing virtual reality environments for sociality

This research investigates how virtual reality (VR) environments can be designed to support sociality. It is guided by two core questions: what sociality means in VR, and how VR experiences can be designed and evaluated to meaningfully support social interaction. The dissertation examines how interactions in VR are shaped by relationships, shared goals, and role asymmetries through three application domains. The first explores social experiences among remote audiences through a virtual opera lobby designed to support connection and reflection. The second examines collaborative work by introducing a VR meeting environment into XR production workflows, enabling alignment between producers and clients within a shared immersive space. The third extends this work toward decision-making and coordination under high-pressure conditions, focusing on collaborative and adversarial interactions. Methodologically, the research adopts a mixed-method approach combining qualitative and quantitative analyses, aiming to synthesize insights across cases to inform the design of social VR environments.

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