As society ages and family structures evolve, older adults increasingly rely on remote social interactions. Traditional methods like video calls and messaging often inadequately support emotional expression, cognitive engagement, and sustained participation among this group. Extended Reality (XR) offers promising multimodal interaction opportunities through spatial presence, gestures, and haptic feedback. However, existing XR platforms often overlook the unique preferences, abilities, and challenges faced by older adults.
This workshop invites participants to critically reflect upon and co-design multimodal XR communication experiences, using scenarios such as remotely celebrating holidays, to enhance older adults’ emotional well-being and social connectedness.
9:00 -- 9:25 AM —— Workshop Welcome and Introduction
9:25 -- 9:35 AM —— Keynote Speech (7 min) + Q&A (3 min)
9:35 -- 9:50 AM —— Participant Presentations and Networking
9:50 -- 10:00 AM —— Introduction to the Finding Christmas VR
10:00 -- 10:30 AM —— Learning and Experiencing XR and Haptic Interaction
In this session, participants will engage in hands-on activities using XR headsets (such as Meta Quest 3 and Pico 4 Enterprise Edition) and wearable haptic devices (such as haptic gloves and full-body suits). They will explore how these technologies enable immersive interaction through tactile feedback, motion tracking, and spatial awareness.
10:30 -- 11:00 AM —— Morning Tea
11:00 -- 11:10 AM —— Group Discussion (After VR- Experience)
11:10 -- 11:20 AM —— Group Design Activity (Sketch-based)
11:20 -- 11:30 AM —— Participants Presentation (Sketch-based)
11:30 -- 11:40 AM —— Introduction to the card set
11:40 -- 11:50 AM ——Group Design Activity (Card)
11:50 AM-- 12:15 PM —— Participants Presentation (Card)
12:15 -- 12:30 PM —— Group Discussion (After Co-design with Card)
12:30 PM —— Wrapping up and Next Steps
Keynote Topic
Six Hours from Sydney: How Regional Seniors Understand Tech, Trust, and Remote Connection
Keynote Speaker: Associate Professor Bhuva Narayan
Affiliation: University of Technology Sydney
🎄 Experience Christmas in XR, Co-design the Future of Remote Interaction
Join an interactive session where creativity meets technology! Using our 48-card “Multimodal Social Extended Reality Cards” deck, you will mix and match social partners, scenarios, interaction modes, and haptic tools to quickly build your own concepts for future remote communication. It’s a fast, fun, and collaborative way to imagine how older adults might connect through XR in meaningful, emotionally rich ways.
Wearing advanced haptic devices, step into immersive XR scenes and experience remote togetherness like never before — celebrate Christmas with faraway friends, pet virtual animals with lifelike touch feedback, enjoy a bowling game, or shake hands with virtual companions. These hands-on demos showcase how haptic and spatial interactions can make distant social moments truly tangible and emotionally engaging.
We invite interested participants to contribute in one of the following three ways:
(1) Short paper (1–6 pages, single-column, excluding references): presents ongoing research or motivation for a case study.
(2) Motivation statement (300–500 words): outlines your interest in the workshop and planned contributions.
(3) Visual presentation (1–3 pages): illustrates concepts, design proposals, or speculative ideas aligned with the workshop themes.
If you're interested in joining, please fill out this form. The organising team will contact you for the next steps, or contact us directly at dzho0167@uni.sydney.edu.au
Please note that all participants are also required to register for the half-day workshop through the official OzCHI 2025 website: https://www.ozchi.org/2025/register.php.
Workshop Organising Team
is a PhD candidate at the Design Lab, Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney. His research focuses on the role of technology in supporting social connectedness among older adults.
is a Senior Lecturer in Computational Design and Advanced Manufacturing (Architecture) at the Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney. Anastasia’s research interests include algorithmic design, interactive systems, and simulations within the field of architecture.
is the Dean of the ANU College of Systems and Society, chair of the ACM CHI Steering Committee, ACM Distinguished member and an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science in the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia.
is an Australian Research Council DECRA Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, and a Registered Architect. Her research takes place at the intersections of architectural practice and the design of care environments, including palliative, paediatric and mental healthcare.
is Director of Swinburne’s Future Self and Design Living Lab, where her research contributes extensive knowledge of human-computer interaction (HCI) and research methods to the teaching of communication design.
is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture, Design and Planning. Her research explores the applications and implications of emerging technologies, with a particular focus on AR/VR and autonomous mobility.
is a PhD candidate in the Robotic Lab at the University of Sydney. His work focuses on constructing a new design framework for human-robot collaboration (HRC) tasks and aims at inspiring designers to explore the characteristics of robotic behaviour and interaction, enabling robots to communicate and work with humans as partners in the HRC project.
is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Sydney specialising in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Haptic Technology and Digital Fabrication. His research focuses on Mediated Social Touch (MST) and haptic systems for recording, synthesising, and reproducing social touch experiences. His research investigates the building blocks of social touch and speculates the future(s) of MST with Speculative Design and Design Fiction.
is a PhD candidate at the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney. His research focuses on human–machine interaction in autonomous vehicles, with an emphasis on multimodal interaction design, takeover system safety, in-vehicle user experience, AR/VR-based experimentation, and the evaluation of physiological data.
is a PhD candidate at the Affective Interaction Lab at the University of Sydney. His current research focuses on the intersection of care, ageing in place, and smart home technologies. Drawing on STS and design ethnography, his work aims to revisit the dynamic care relations within the context of ageing in place.
is a PhD candidate in the Living Lab at the Swinburne University of Technology. His research interests include human-computer interaction, co-design, and design for older adults.