Important Dates
Each deadline is 23:59:59 AoE (Anywhere on Earth) == GMT/UTC-12:00 on the stated day, no matter where the submitter is located.
Submission of Short Papers: 14 December 2026
Final Short Paper Acceptance Notifications: 7 January 2027
Camera-Ready Submission of Short Papers: 12 January 2027
Submission of Lightning Talk Proposals: 19 January 2027
Workshop: 27 February 2027 or 28 February 2027
Make a Submission: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=collabxr27
Description
Multi-User XR systems have the power to transform how we collaborate with each other across space and time. For example, real-world gatherings can be enhanced via AR avatar representations of remote participants, fully geographically dispersed groups can be brought together for joint work, and recordings of past interactions can even enable participation and reflection across different timelines.
Despite the exciting potential of extending and transforming collaborative work, systematic research on what constitutes expressive and meaningful digital interactions comes with significant research challenges that grow in complexity as the number of participants increases. This workshop aims to provide a platform for researchers and practitioners to present their work and exchange experiences centered around multi-user XR systems. Specific topics of interest span from the design and evaluation of multi-user interaction techniques, over the application of social XR systems in different real-world contexts, to the overarching practical, social, and ethical challenges behind the connection of real users with and through virtual content. For the inaugural edition of this workshop, we put a particular focus on asymmetric collaboration, looking at how to overcome the gaps between users of different devices, of different interaction capabilities, and with different domain expertise. We aim to foster a lively exchange between researchers and practitioners of different experience levels, explicitly welcoming the active participation of new researchers in the field.
Topics of Interest
The workshop welcomes all contributions revolving around the design, implementation, and evaluation of multi-user XR systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
Evaluation Methodologies for Multi-User Interaction
Requirement Analyses for Integrating Multi-User XR in Serious Contexts
Transformed Social Interaction
Avatar Representations in Multi-User Contexts
Social XR for Remote Learning
Foundations of Group Work in Virtual Environments
Comparison of Real and Virtual Multi-User Interactions
Network Technologies and Infrastructures
Asymmetric Collaboration Methods and their Evaluation
Use Case Examples and Best Practices for Social XR Usage
Social XR for Underrepresented User Groups
Ethical Considerations in Social XR
Reproduction Studies of Previous Findings in Social XR
…
Contribution Formats
This workshop offers multiple formats to advance and critically reflect on our joint research progress on Collaborative and Social XR. In particular, we offer novel research results to be published and presented as short papers (published on IEEE Xplore), prior research results and initial ideas to be presented as lightning talks, and overarching research directions to be reflected on in group and panel discussions.
Short papers give authors the option to present original research results on Collaborative and Social XR. While the format of a workshop invites the presentation of preliminary results to discuss further steps with the community, the presented findings have to be based on a rigorous scientific research process to ensure their validity. Each short paper will be reviewed by two experts from the international program committee, judging the validity of the presented work and giving the authors valuable feedback on how to improve their manuscript before the camera-ready deadline. The possible outcomes of this process are acceptance for publication on IEEE Xplore, invitation as a lightning talk instead of a short paper publication, and rejection.
Submissions must be prepared in an anonymous form and not exceed 6 pages (excluding references) in the VGTC Conference Template (https://tc.computer.org/vgtc/publications/conference/). Submissions that do not comply with these criteria will have to be desk-rejected without further review. Submissions are collected via the EasyChair submission system.
At least one author for each accepted short paper must register for the IEEE VR conference and give an in-person talk at the workshop.
Lightning talks give authors the option to introduce their opinions, ongoing research work, or general questions for subsequent discussion with the scientific community. Lightning talks may also be based on either (1) original work or (2) prior publications at a venue outside of IEEE VR to invite further exchange with the present community. Proposals for lightning talks will be reviewed by the workshop organizers and not published in a digital library. The possible outcomes are acceptance for presentation at the workshop and rejection.
Proposals should briefly explain the suggested scope of the lightning talk in the form of a 500-word abstract. They should not be anonymous and do not have any template restrictions. Proposals are submitted via an e-mail to all the workshop organizers listed below.
At least one author for each accepted lightning talk must register for the IEEE VR conference and give the talk in person at the workshop.
Group and panel discussions provide participants with an option to enter a direct exchange with each other about overarching research directions, challenges, and methodologies in the broad area of Collaborative and Social XR. These discussion rounds will be set up by the workshop organizers in between the more conventional presentations to provide room for open and interactive engagement.
Group and panel discussions are supposed to have a low entry barrier and, therefore, are open to all workshop participants without prior registration. Nonetheless, please feel free to reach out via an e-mail to the workshop organizers if you are interested in discussing a particular topic or would like to engage as a panelist for a larger-scale discussion.
Contact
Pauline Bimberg (bimberg@ient.rwth-aachen.de)
Tim Weissker (me@tim-weissker.de)
Heide Lukosch (heide.lukosch@canterbury.ac.nz)
Alexander Giovannelli (gio@ucf.edu)