Extended Reality (XR) has emerged as a transformative and immersive technology with versatile applications in content creation and consumption. As XR gains popularity, companies eager to adopt it often possess a surface-level understanding, investing significant resources without effectively addressing the genuine needs of end-users. This study explores the current workflows of XR production companies, and the potential of social XR in mitigating challenges throughout the XR production workflow. We present the outcomes of three respective focus group workshops conducted with three XR production companies and their experts (N=17). The results indicate that at every stage of the production, namely pre-production, production, post-production, and post-release, there are communication challenges between producers and clients, as well as different production and post-production specialists. We discuss various aspects of XR concerning the problem and propose novel opportunities offered by social XR to ameliorate those challenges, improving communication and making development more agile.

The latest social VR technologies have enabled users to attend traditional media and arts performances together while being geographically removed, making such experiences accessible despite budget, distance, and other restrictions. In this work, we aim at improving the way remote performances are shared by designing and evaluating a VR theatre lobby which serves as a space for users to gather, interact, and relive the common experience of watching a virtual opera. We conducted an initial test with experts ($\mathrm{N}=10$, i.e., designers and opera enthusiasts) in pairs using our VR lobby prototype, developed based on the theoretical lobby design concept. A unique aspect of our experience is its highly realistic representation of users in the virtual space. The test results guided refinements to the VR lobby structure and implementation, aiming to improve the user experience and align it more closely with the social VR lobby's intended purpose. With the enhanced prototype, we ran a between-subject controlled study ($\mathrm{N}=40$) to compare the user experience in the social VR lobby between individuals and paired participants. To do so, we designed and validated a questionnaire to measure the user experience in the VR lobby. Results of our mixed-methods analysis, including interviews, questionnaire results, and user behavior, reveal the strength of our social VR lobby in connecting with other users, consuming the opera in a deeper manner, and exploring new possibilities beyond what is common in real life. All supplemental materials are available at https://github.com/cwi-dis/IEEEVR2024-VRLobby.

Visualizing biosignals can be important for social Virtual Reality (VR), where avatar non-verbal cues are missing. While several biosignal representations exist, designing effective visualizations and understanding user perceptions within social VR entertainment remains unclear. We adopt a mixed-methods approach to design biosignals for social VR entertainment. Using survey (N=54), context-mapping (N=6), and co-design (N=6) methods, we derive four visualizations. We then ran a within-subjects study (N=32) in a virtual jazz-bar to investigate how heart rate (HR) and breathing rate (BR) visualizations, and signal rate, influence perceived avatar arousal, user distraction, and preferences. Findings show that skeuomorphic visualizations for both biosignals allow differentiable arousal inference; skeuomorphic and particles were least distracting for HR, whereas all were similarly distracting for BR; biosignal perceptions often depend on avatar relations, entertainment type, and emotion inference of avatars versus spaces. We contribute HR and BR visualizations, and considerations for designing social VR entertainment biosignal visualizations.

Several social VR platforms support virtual entertainment events, however their value for post-show activities remains unclear. Through a user-centered approach, we design a social VR lobby experience to enrich four motivations of theatre-goers: social, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual engagement. We ran a context-mapping focus group session with professionals (N=6) to conceptualize the social VR space for digital opera experiences. Based on our findings, we propose a social VR lobby consisting of four rooms: 1) a Bar for social engagement, 2) an Info Booth for intellectual engagement, 3) a Photo Zone for emotional engagement, and 4) an Interactive Stage for spiritual engagement. Based on this work, we plan to experimentally evaluate audience experiences in each room in order to create a social VR lobby template for theater experiences.