Multi-user Efficacy of Collaborative Virtual Environments

Multi-user efficacy is a key factor of genuine collaboration among multiple users towards a common goal. To assess multi-user efficacy, social scientists have traditionally applied subjective measurements from a theoretical perspective. Researchers in human-computer interaction have developed combined metrics of objective and subjective measurements. Nevertheless, the combined metrics fall short to fully cover the theoretical perspective of social scientists. To remedy this shortfall, we have developed a set of objective and subjective metrics to complete the theoretical perspective. Utilizing the metrics, we present in this paper a study to verify the robustness of our dynamic priority (DP) model, which under a quasi-practical scenario resolves command conflicts and promotes perceived equality in interaction among multiple users. In the study, we utilized a realistic scenario which differs from the quasi-practical scenario in the allowance of verbal communication among users. The results of the study revealed that the DP model yielded a significantly higher degree of multi-user efficacy under the realistic scenario than the quasi-practical scenario. Moreover, there was no significant difference of the perceived equality in interaction between both scenarios. These observations confirm the robustness of the DP model, and imply the potential application of the model for genuine collaboration within multiuser VEs.