IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - July 2018 - 52

[17], social context, and social presence, which considers the
VE as a communication medium. Although studies have examined these one at a time, during an actual VR experience they
concur, meaning that a social interaction within VEs may elicit
emotions and experiences that surpass the current understanding of nonimmersive virtual worlds or computer-mediated-communication. Therefore, if immersive VR is to be exploited as a
social medium and even more so, as a communication medium,
then its affective impact requires extensive research.
Apart from enabling interaction between users, a VE or a
VR system may incorporate text and audio-based instructions,
intelligent agents, and, in the near future, motion control, haptic
feedback, and a whole scope of novel experiences (if mixed
reality is also included). Forthcoming commercial immersive
VR products are expected to integrate all of the prior mentioned
facets of VR. The fact that immersive virtual worlds may induce
real and, most importantly, embodied experiences is hardly a
groundbreaking concept; it is, however, an uncharted one.
We are not aware to what extent, and in what ways, individuals will engage in social interaction within VEs, what sort
of virtual communities will be formed, and how VR as a
medium of communication will reform social behavior under
various social contexts. Social context is a determinant of the
VR experience and should therefore be investigated in future
research. Although there is still much to examine regarding
the technical and contextual aspects of VR itself, its commercial use as a space that facilitates social interaction needs to be
addressed before it overtakes ongoing research by simply generating too much data.

acknoWledGments
This work was supported by the 54 volunteers who participated in
our experiment as well as the anonymous reviewers who helped
improve the technical content and presentation of our work.

about the authoRs
Elena Dzardanova (lena@aegean.gr) is currently a Ph.D.
student studying virtual reality as a communication medium
in the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering, University of the Aegean, Greece.
Vlasios Kasapakis (v.kasapakis@aegean.gr) is a postdoctorate researcher in the Department of Cultural Technology
and Communication, University of the Aegean, Greece.
Damianos Gavalas (dgavalas@aegean.gr) is an associate
professor in the Department of Product and Systems Design
Engineering, University of the Aegean, Greece.

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http://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/109493101300117884 http://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/109493101300117884 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00221-013-3800-1 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08923649709526970 http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/10.1162/105474603322761289 http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/10.1162/105474603322761289 http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/10.1162/105474698565686 http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/10.1162/105474698565686 https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/10.1162/105474699566477 https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/10.1162/105474699566477 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoJT9wXcbk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoJT9wXcbk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z6MEjjE6zc http://www.syros.aegean.gr/users/dgavalas/experiments/questionnaire.pdf

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