Presence and Communication in Hybrid Virtual and Augmented Reality Environments

The use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in connected environments is rarely explored but may become a necessary channel of communication in the future. Such environments would allow multiple users to interact, engage, and share multidimensional data across devices and between the spectrum of realities. However, communication between the two realities within a hybrid environment is barely understood. We carried out an experiment with 52 participants in 26 pairs, within two environments of 3D cultural artifacts: (1) a Hybrid VR and AR environment (HVAR) and (2) a Shared VR environment (SVR). We explored the differences in perceived spatial presence, copresence, and social presence between the environments and between users. We demonstrated that greater presence is perceived in SVR when compared with HVAR, and greater spatial presence is perceived for VR users. Social presence is perceived greater for AR users, possibly because they have line of sight of their partners within HVAR. We found positive correlations between shared activity time and perceived social presence. While acquainted pairs reported significantly greater presence than unacquainted pairs in SVR, there were no significant differences in perceived presence between them in HVAR.