Understanding Context to Capture when Reconstructing Meaningful Spaces for Remote Instruction and Connecting in XR

TL;DR

This paper investigates how capturing social and sensory context in XR reconstructions can enhance remote informal interactions, based on a study with gardener groups using personalized garden reconstructions.

Contribution

It provides insights into social context importance for XR reconstructions and discusses design implications for more meaningful remote collaboration experiences.

Findings

Physical objects and areas are motivated by gardening activities.

Perceptions of XR influence its use for remote interaction.

User involvement can improve reconstruction relevance and privacy.

Abstract

Recent technological advances are enabling HCI researchers to explore interaction possibilities for remote XR collaboration using high-fidelity reconstructions of physical activity spaces. However, creating these reconstructions often lacks user involvement with an overt focus on capturing sensory context that does not necessarily augment an informal social experience. This work seeks to understand social context that can be important for reconstruction to enable XR applications for informal instructional scenarios. Our study involved the evaluation of an XR remote guidance prototype by 8 intergenerational groups of closely related gardeners using reconstructions of personally meaningful spaces in their gardens. Our findings contextualize physical objects and areas with various motivations related to gardening and detail perceptions of XR that might affect the use of reconstructions for remote interaction. We discuss implications for user involvement to create reconstructions that better translate real-world experience, encourage reflection, incorporate privacy considerations, and preserve shared experiences with XR as a medium for informal intergenerational activities.