Practice-informed Patterns for Organising Large Groups in Distributed Mixed Reality Collaboration

TL;DR

This paper develops design principles and patterns for scaling mixed reality collaboration in large, distributed groups, addressing spatial and social challenges to improve multi-user experiences.

Contribution

It introduces new collaboration patterns and principles specifically tailored for large-scale mixed reality environments, expanding beyond pairwise interactions.

Findings

Eight collaboration patterns for large-scale MR environments

A set of design principles for distributed MR collaboration

Theoretical insights into space-place relationships in MR

Abstract

Collaborating across dissimilar, distributed spaces presents numerous challenges for computer-aided spatial communication. Mixed reality (MR) can blend selected surfaces, allowing collaborators to work in blended f-formations (facing formations), even when their workstations are physically misaligned. Since collaboration often involves more than just participant pairs, this research examines how we might scale MR experiences for large-group collaboration. To do so, this study recruited collaboration designers (CDs) to evaluate and reimagine MR for large-scale collaboration. These CDs were engaged in a four-part user study that involved a technology probe, a semi-structured interview, a speculative low-fidelity prototyping activity and a validation session. The outcomes of this paper contribute (1) a set of collaboration design principles to inspire future computer-supported collaborative work, (2) eight collaboration patterns for blended f-formations and collaboration at scale and (3) theoretical implications for f-formations and space-place relationships. As a result, this work creates a blueprint for scaling collaboration across distributed spaces.