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Abstract
Social virtual reality (VR) platforms have increased in popularity with many people turning to these platforms to experience social connection, including a rapid influx of users during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is limited understanding of how people appropriate and use emerging social VR applications to actively support their mental health and wellbeing in daily life. Through an online questionnaire and exploratory interviews conducted within the social VR app VRChat during the COVID-19 pandemic, we document how social VR is being used explicitly as a mental health support tool. Participants reported positive wellbeing benefits, mostly attributed to the anonymity provided by avatars and perceived safety within digital worlds and communities of practice. We also report how people use social VR to practice social interaction, reduce negative thoughts and form strong social bonds and connections with others.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | CHI 2023 - Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems |
| Publisher | Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781450394215 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 19 Apr 2023 |
| Event | 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023 - Hamburg, Germany Duration: 23 Apr 2023 → 28 Apr 2023 |
Publication series
| Name | Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings |
|---|---|
| Publisher | ACM |
| ISSN (Print) | 2159-6468 |
Conference
| Conference | 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2023 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Germany |
| City | Hamburg |
| Period | 23/04/23 → 28/04/23 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 ACM.
Research Groups and Themes
- Bristol Interaction Group
Keywords
- COVID-19
- Mental health
- Social VR
- VRChat
Access to Document
- Full-text PDF (accepted manuscript)
This is the accepted author manuscript (AAM). The final published version (version of record) is available online via ACM at https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581103. Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.
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CenSoF: ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures
Halford, S. (Principal Investigator), Southerton, D. (Co-Investigator), Manchester, H. (Co-Investigator), Evans, D. M. (Co-Investigator), Watson, D. L. (Co-Investigator), Anderson, B. (Co-Investigator), Cater, K. F. (Co-Investigator), Carver, N. (Co-Investigator), Clarke, P. H. (Co-Investigator), Dermott, E. (Co-Investigator), Facer, K. (Co-Investigator), Hauert, S. (Co-Investigator), Liu, W. (Co-Investigator), Liveley, G. (Co-Investigator), McQuillan, D. (Co-Investigator), O'Kane, A. A. (Co-Investigator), Owen, R. (Co-Investigator), Parker, M. (Co-Investigator), Preist, C. W. (Co-Investigator), Schien, D. (Co-Investigator), Sriprakash, A. (Co-Investigator), Milivojevic, S. (Co-Investigator), Hussain, R. (Co-Investigator), Gutierrez Lopez, M. (Researcher), Cheilan, L. (Researcher), Thomas, L. M. (Researcher), Van Isacker, T. (Researcher), Valladares Celis, C. (Researcher), Atkins, E. (Student), Knight, E. W. (Student), Pykett, J. (Co-Investigator), Pitts, H. (Co-Investigator), Williamson, B. (Co-Investigator), Lagedamont, M. (Co-Investigator), Dowse, M. (Researcher), Brand, J. F. (Student), James, R. (Student), Okafo, D. (Student), Horsley, N. (Researcher), Jansen, A. H. (Administrator), Stevenson, T. P. (Other ), Hill, J. M. (Manager), Abu-Aisheh, R. (Researcher), Bo, H. (Researcher), Hemming, R. (Researcher), Huang, L. (Researcher) & Ward, K. J. (Other )
1/05/22 → 30/04/27
Project: Research, Parent