What is the study about?

IEEEVR2020 is the first conference to take place entirely in a virtual environment at this scale (currently, 1,500+ participants)! Please help us learn more about communication and social interaction in virtual worlds at a time when physical distancing is necessary but social interactions must go on. By observing your interactions online, we hope to learn about how different platforms and their features can impact social interactions and communications.

What does an (R) after a room name mean?

This room is a Research Zone, where observational studies are being conducted. Upon entering this Research Zone, you agree that:

• Researchers may observe your actions and communications
• Your interactions and those of your avatar may be recorded with both video and audio
• Your handle and any identifying information it contains may be recorded as part of the video and audio recording

Your participation will help us learn and make important discoveries about how we interact in virtual spaces. However, your participation is not mandatory. You may leave at any time and your departure will have no impact on your participation in the IEEEVR2020 conference.

How will my data be used?

The recorded data will be used for research purposes only. Every effort to anonymize information will be made. Data may be used for presentations and publications with as much of the data anonymized as possible. However,portions of the recorded conference room video may be included in these presentations and publications as figures, video, or illustrations. In the video,the information shown with your avatar may include personally identifiable information, such as your name and affiliation, if that was what you chose to display.

If you do not want any personally identifiable information reflected in these videos to be shared with anyone outside of the researchers for this study, you may contact us and we will make efforts to anonymize your information.If, at any point, you wish to withdraw your consent from this research you may contact us and we will make efforts to remove your individual information from the research data, however, certain identifiable information by its nature cannot be removed.

The PI of this research study is Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn, sjahn@uga.edu, 760-542-0976. If you have any concerns about this study, please contact 706-542-3199 or irb@uga.edu.

Want to tell us more about your experiences at IEEEVR2020? We’d love to listen!

We are interested in conducting structured interviews to get a really in-depthunderstanding of your experiences before, during, and after IEEEVR. The interview will take about 30 minutes and you may participate through Zoom, Skype, or Mozilla Hubs. Please contact the PI, Grace Ahn (sjahn@uga.edu), if you are willing to help us better understand social interaction in VR. We’d love to hear from you!