Simple Spoke Environment 1

***** This environment I built in Spoke might be too large of a file that I couldn't open in Hubs... So I built a simpler environment later.***

Simple Spoke Environment 2

https://hubs.mozilla.com/XKsTKhu/downright-sophisticated-territory/

Response to "Shaping Pro-Social Interaction in VR"

    This article talked about several preliminary and necessary elements and design considerations in building a social VR environment and how to shape the pro-social interactions. From data collecting, = environmental design to enhancing the code of conduct in social VR, industrial experts have shared their experiences that aroused my excitements as well as concerns for the future of social VR.

    It is so interesting to see the various considerations put into the design process of a social VR environment, including making the users more familiar with the surroundings by creating architectures or spaces inspired by elements in our physical world. By doing so, users will bring their senses, memories, feelings and experiences into the virtual space simultaneously, and thus having a much more immersive experience in a virtual social world.

    However, based on my own experiences, the lack of immersive feelings is still what prevents me from frequently using social VR applications right now. I have experiences in VRChat, Rec Room and also Mozilla Hubs with Oculus Quest. While I enjoyed a lot of VR games, social VR platforms always give me a sense of fragmentation from the real world. Because of the technical bottleneck that Virtual Reality is generally facing right now, the resolution and refresh rate of the headset and the cartoonish environment and avatars in the social VR applications make the experience so obviously “fake” to me. Unlike playing VR games, getting placed in social VR environments makes me constantly aware of the fact that I am in a virtual space. It is really hard for me to fully immerse myself into the environment and forget about my presence in the physical world. I believe it is our human bodies’ instincts to reject such a sense of fragmentation. Therefore, my experience in different social VR applications makes me think that virtual reality is not that big of advantage when it comes to socializing, compared to other non-vr social platforms like Zoom and Clubhouse.