“Space Agent” as a Socially Interactive Design Partner: A Study of User Perception, Social Interaction, and Creative Engagement in Socially Interactive Virtual Environments
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Yu, Jiaze
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Abstract
While prior research has introduced the concept of Socially Interactive Virtual Environments (SIVEs), the ways in which these environments can support co-creative processes through socially expressive design remain underexplored. This thesis investigates how immersive VR environments can function as human-like design partners by responding to users with social presence, mutual awareness, and non-verbal feedback throughout the creative process. Building on previous work that employed a sphere-based SIVE, this study introduces a newly developed mist-based SIVE capable of ambient communication through lighting, symbolic weather changes, and spatial cues.
Twelve participants took part in a structured design workshop followed by Wizard-of-Oz–based evaluation sessions, where they interacted with both SIVE versions across two creative design tasks: an open house activity and a small exhibition space. Thematic analysis, and interaction analysis were used to examine how participants perceived and engaged with each environment. Results indicate that ambient expressiveness and timely, non-verbal responses enhanced participants’ sense of collaboration and positively influenced their design thinking and creativity. The thesis concludes with design implications for future SIVE systems and a framework for supporting meaningful human-agent co-design in VR.
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2025-04-30
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