DiVRsify: Break the Cycle and Develop VR for Everyone

TL;DR

This paper highlights the significant biases in virtual reality research and development, emphasizing the lack of diversity among participants and researchers, and calls for inclusive efforts to make VR accessible for all populations.

Contribution

It identifies the gaps in VR research concerning diverse populations and advocates for inclusive practices to develop universally accessible VR technologies.

Findings

Underrepresented groups show different VR usability patterns.

Current VR research lacks generalizability across diverse populations.

Call to action for inclusive VR research and development.

Abstract

Virtual reality technology is biased. It excludes approximately 95% the world's population by being primarily designed for male, western, educated, industrial, rich, and democratic populations. This bias may be due to the lack of diversity in virtual reality researchers, research participants, developers, and end users, fueling a noninclusive research, development, and usability cycle. The objective of this paper is to highlight the minimal virtual reality research involving understudied populations with respect to dimensions of diversity, such as gender, race, culture, ethnicity, age, disability, and neurodivergence. Specifically, we highlight numerous differences in virtual reality usability between underrepresented groups compared to commonly studied populations. These differences illustrate the lack of generalizability of prior virtual reality research. Lastly, we present a call to action with the aim that, over time, will break the cycle and enable virtual reality for everyone.