Immersive Computing: Perspectives on Spatial Design Strategies for Individual Virtual Reality Workspace Platforms

Abstract

Background The rapid increase in remote work due to COVID-19 has recently become one of the general work cultures. The remote working environment (RWE), including emails, messengers, and videoconferencing, has communication limitations, such as less random encounters and synchronous and spontaneous communication. Virtual Office (VO) has emerged as an alternative to overcome the limitations, but it has partially coped with the issues. Virtual reality workspaces (VRWS) have the potential to break through limitations. However, they still need to be actively utilized. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the current state of VRWS’s spatial design and to identify its problems and limitations. In addition, the authors suggest a design direction for the proliferation of VRWS with respect to spatial design based on the design factors from the semi-structured review of previous literature. Methods Among 42 commercial VRWS platforms, six VRWS platforms including individual workspace are finally selected for design analysis. Design criteria and factors are identified from a semi-structured review of the literature related to design methodologies and assessment, and a framework for design is suggested. The framework analyzes the six targeted platforms, and the design direction for each factor for the future VRWS is claimed from the findings. Results The insights acquired from the investigation are as follows: First, the significance of individual workspace in VRWS should be emphasized. Second, user activities and interactions should be carefully considered in the spatial design of VRWS for user comfort and improvement of work productivity. Third, the imitation of the spatial design of workspaces in physical reality and the degree of compatibility with existing work tools are inversely proportional. Fourth, the ambience design of a virtual workspace is as significant to job satisfaction and work productivity as the aesthetic design of a physical workspace. Based on these insights, the authors proposed the design direction from the perspectives of spatial structure and usability, task objects and interaction, ambience design controllability, and personalization. Conclusions The study explores the current issues of VRWS and proposes the design direction of a personal workspace in VRWS via a design framework for its proliferation in the future. This research contributes to academia by laying the groundwork for further research on spatial design methodologies for workspaces in virtual reality and to the industry by providing virtual reality space designers and architects with a baseline for designing virtual reality workspaces.