Inclusivity

Objective:

The framework of this study, as a whole, is the catalogue design patterns within VR experiences. We are trying to educate creators / developers, academics and ourselves to create better design.

For this study, the goal of the inclusivity & diversity sections are to open up the conversation, raise awareness of these representations (or lack thereof), and recognize applications that seemingly do well in some of these aspects. In this regard, we are gathering stories.

The purpose is not to report if there is significant representation (or lack thereof) nor are we identifying how well the industry or sub-categories performs. While we are interested in this as an objective, we have decided to make this a non-goal for this study because of our small sample size reviewing each application (N= 5-6). This would not be representative to enough people and we would not be able to conclusively determine aspects such as whether the applications representative to a wide variety of different people or whether character representations are definitively biases in the design.

Definitions:

Ethnicity is population group whose members identify with each other on the basis of common nationality or shared cultural traditions

Race refers to physical differences that groups and cultures consider socially significant that are seen as being “common” among folks of shared ancestry (Webster/ASA)

Citation:

Glaubke, Christina & Miller, Patti & Parker, McCrae & Espejo, Eileen; Fair Play? Violence, Gender and Race in Video Games. Children Now (2001).

CREATIVE REACTION LAB. (2018). Field Guide: Equity-Centered Community Design.

Pagliaccio, Sara (November 9, 2020). Understanding Gender & Racial Bias in AI, Part 1 & 2; www.uxmatters.com. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.uxmatters.com/authors/archives/2020/11/sarah_pagliaccio.php

Microsoft Design. (2016). Microsoft-Design. Retrieved 2021, from https://www.microsoft.com/design/inclusive/