Madrid, Spain, September 30th - October 2nd, 202517th International Conference on Quality of Multimedia Experience

SS3: Ensuring Comfort, Accessibility, and Safety in Extended Reality

Description

Extended Reality (XR), encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR), has revolutionized how people interact with digital environments. However, the rapid expansion of XR technologies has also  brought significant challenges related to comfort, accessibility, and safety – aspects that are crucial for providing adequate user experience (UX), Quality of Experience (QoE), and overall system usability. From sensory overload and motion sickness to physical injuries and inclusion gaps, these issues highlight the need for robust guidelines and practices.

This special session seeks to address these challenges by uniting researchers and industry professionals to:

  • Explore current and emerging guidelines for ensuring comfort, accessibility, and safety across XR environments.
  • Investigate how sensory, physical, and cognitive factors impact user experiences in XR.
  • Assess the effectiveness of current frameworks in mitigating risks and enhancing usability.
  • Envision the future of standardizing ratings for comfort, accessibility, and safety in XR applications.

Topics of Interest

This session invites contributions addressing the following topics:

  • Comfort in XR: Metrics and techniques to minimize sensory discomfort, including motion sickness, photosensitivity, and perceptual load.
  • Accessibility in XR: Inclusive design approaches to ensure equitable participation for users with diverse abilities and needs.
  • Safety in XR: Evaluating and mitigating risks related to physical workload, ergonomic design, and injury avoidance.
  • Content and Trigger Warnings in XR: Frameworks for warning users about potentially distressing or harmful content in immersive environments.
  • Perceptual and Cognitive Load Guidelines: Addressing sensory overload, photosensitive seizure risks, and cognitive challenges.
  • Behavioral and Physiological Insights: Understanding the psychological and physiological impacts of XR usage on users.
  • Rating Systems for XR Experiences: Development of transparent and standardized comfort, accessibility, safety, and QoE ratings.
  • User Feedback and Adaptation: Integrating user reviews, feedback loops, and adaptive technologies to improve XR experiences.
  • Case Studies and Applications: Real-world examples of implementing comfort, safety, accessibility, and QoE measures in XR applications.

Organizers