The Social Virtual Reality Debate: Questioning Reality

This is an accessible, engaging, and timely overview of the key debates surrounding the ongoing role of VR in society, exploring extended reality (XR), immersive VR, augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).

Research on VR is quickly evolving, having started with experiments on basic perceptual effects of deep immersion in virtual worlds, but has now expanded to questions of adequate content for the medium, behavioral changes, therapy and learning uses, identification issues, the evocation of emotions and empathy, and pressing ethical concerns. The Social Virtual Reality Debate: Questioning Reality moves beyond the hype of what VR might be in technological terms to focus on motivations and opportunities for adoption: What are the goals and needs of potential social VR users? What do they find in these immersive environments that they cannot find in physical spaces or existing online fora? How do we ensure that social VR spaces do not replicate or reinforce social norms and imperatives? Featuring perspectives from VR scholars and industry professionals who are conducting research and engaging with questions of ethics and privacy at the forefront of this rapidly transforming media landscape, the book explores the key areas that will inform the next cycle of social VR development, pedagogy, educational policy, organizational communication, and future training.

This book provides an essential overview of evidence-based ‘hot takes’ in virtual reality scholarship, suitable for students and scholars in the disciplines of media, communication, culture, information and technology, and related research areas.

Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn is a Professor at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia, USA, and founding director of its Center for Advanced Computer-Human Ecosystems (CACHE). Her research investigates how immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality transform traditional rules of communication and social interactions, looking at how virtual experiences shape the way that people think, feel, and behave in the physical world.

Bree McEwan is a Professor of Mediated Communication in the Institute for Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada. She is also associate director of the University of Toronto Data Sciences Institute and director of the McEwan Mediated Communication Lab. Her research focuses on how the affordances of mediated technologies influence human communication processes and social interaction.