Call and Scope:

The explosive growth of Extended Reality (XR) technologies during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recent rise of high-quality Virtual and Augmented Reality platforms that afford collaboration in shared hybrid spaces, and the increased interest of both commercial and research institutions towards the design and development of the Metaverse highlight the potential of XR to serve as a fundamental communication medium in the future.

Among others, XR technologies enable communication between remote or collocated individuals, immersed in shared spaces, providing meaningful multisensory experiences. XR systems allow real-time voice communication between individuals; provide personalized high-fidelity avatars for user representation in the XR space; incorporate a multitude of non-verbal cues such as full-body/gaze motion and facial expressions; support natural/embodied interfaces and allow multi-user collaboration in highly interactive and aesthetically rich simulated environments. Those features render XR as the most effective alternative to face-to-face communication and collaboration but pose challenges as of their impact on the medium’s efficiency and overall user experience.

Topics:

This special issue solicits research related to XR systems and their features allowing XR to stand as a communication medium. Authors are encouraged to submit articles presenting original and innovative studies that address new challenges and implications and explore the potential of XR to serve as a communication medium along with the factors which can affect its efficiency and overall user experience. Topics or interest include, but are not limited to:

• Communication and collaboration in XR
• Interactive XR systems
• Multiuser XR spaces
• Social XR
• Human-computer interaction in XR
• Gesture and/or speech interaction
• Natural/Embodied interaction interfaces
• Non-verbal communication in XR
• Avatars for user representation in immersive XR spaces
• Embodiment studies
• Cognitive & behavioural studies
• Presence, co-presence, and social presence
• XR systems usability and user experience studies

Important Dates:
Paper Submission Deadline September 15th, 2022
Author notification November 30th, 2022
Revised papers submission January 15th, 2023
Final Acceptance March 15th, 2023

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the journal’s submission guidelines, available at the MIT Press website https://www.mitpressjournals.org/journals/pres/sub

Guest Editors:
Dr Spyros Vosinakis (spyrosv@aegean.gr), Dpt of Product & Systems Design Engineering, University of the Aegean, Syros, Greece
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KjA46lQAAAAJ

Dr Vlasios Kasapakis (v.kasapakis@aegean.gr), Dpt of Cultural Technology & Communication, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=j9oIBdgAAAAJ

Dr. Damianos Gavalas (dgavalas@aegean.gr), Dpt of Product & Systems Design Engineering, University of the Aegean, Syros, Greece
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8kYj-SsAAAAJ