Effect of latency on social presence in traditional video conference and VR conference: a comparative study

Virtual reality (VR) conference, as a typical social VR application, has gained popularity in recent years. It offers users located at different locations a fully immersive experience and a sense of togetherness. However, the remote communication also introduces inevitable latencies, which may adversely affect the so-called social presence. There is still a lack of research on the effect of latency on social presence. To fill the gap, this paper aims to examine the impact of latency on social presence of VR conference and contrast it with that of traditional video conference. Here, the social presence is measured using the Networked Minds Social Presence Inventory (NMSPI). We design and conduct two conversation-based subjective tests for both types of conference and compare the impact of the latency based on the test results. The conclusions of these studies can be used as guidelines for VR service providers to optimize their conference systems.

I. Introduction

With the advancement of technology in immersive media and real-time communication applications, high-quality and affordable VR systems have opened up new opportunities for social VR applications and services. For instance, Remio VR, Rec Room, Horizon Workrooms, Spatial VR, and MeetinVR, all provide 3D virtual spaces where users can interact with each other through VR head-mounted displays (HMDs) [1], [2].