Immersive and embodied virtual spaces are increasingly prevalent. While generally beneficial, the paradigm shifts introduced by such environments (e.g., immersion, embodiment, or technological advancements) can also lead to new harms for users, such as embodied harassment in social VR, harmful user-generated virtual world design, and new types of perceptual manipulations. In our CHI 2024 workshop, we brought together experts to identify and understand these new harms.
Building on this, we want to bring together a set of interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners from HCI and adjacent fields to collectively design and develop concrete and actionable sociotechnical solutions that specifically target new harms in immersive and embodied virtual worlds. This includes (but is not limited to) the four themes identified in our CHI 2024 workshop: monetizing embodied harms, blurring reality with the online world, platforming perpetrators by investigating their motivations and emotions, and embodied harms specifically targeting children.
We invite interested researchers and practitioners to submit a position statement and bio (each up to 200 words) with this form by February 28, 2025. In the position statement, participants should describe why they are interested in the area, which work they have already done, and if they are interested in specific topics related to the workshop. Submissions are *NOT* anonymized. Please include the name of the author(s) on the submission.
The workshop will be organized as a hybrid event at CHI 2025, but we encourage in-person attendance. One participant from each submission must register for the workshop and at least one day of the CHI conference.
If you have any questions regarding this workshop, please contact Dr. Guo Freeman <guof@clemson.edu>.