BEYOND MEET SPACE
A research collective interested in the future of work and play beyond the limitations of physical space.
RESEARCH AREAS
Virtual Meeting Fatigue (VMF) and Well-Being
Developed a broad, inductive understanding of how people think virtual meeting elements relate to well-being and social equity by analyzing textual data shared over Twitter (now X).
Impression Management and Avatar Use
Conducted an exploratory analysis of how fundamental virtual meeting features and individual attributes statistically relate to well-being and equity using a large survey.
The Role of Social Presence in VR and VM Settings
Qualitatively interpreted broader insights about virtual meetings within the narrower work context of interest (i.e., diverse video game development teams) through worker interviews.
Gender, Race, and Inequities in Virtual Environments
Tested hypotheses on which video game development teams use specific features of video-based virtual meetings to best enhance well-being and social equity. Video virtual meeting experiment to test hypotheses derived from Studies 1-3.
Playfulness and Engagement in Virtual Environments
Prototyped a virtual meeting platform, Beyond Meet Space (BMS), using a values-based approach that requires testing and iteratively designing elements to effectively realize our goals.
Technological Competence and Participation
Built and supported a community of researchers interested in this project’s topics and industry constituents who may benefit from such research in ways that promote well-being and equity in their future work.
RESEARCH PRODUCTS
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Lim, C., Ratan, R. Foxman, M., Meshi, D., Liu, H., Hales, G., & Lei, Y. (2024). An avatar's worth: Valuation of avatar customization for the metaverse workplace is predicted by virtual meeting fatigue, gaming habits, and being a woman or person of color. Computers in Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108309
Foxman, M., Beyea, D., Leith, A.P., Ratan, R. A., Chen, V. H. H., & Klebig, B. (2022). Beyond genre: Classifying virtual reality experiences. IEEE Transactions on Games, 14(3), 466-477. https://doi.org/10.1109/TG.2021.3119521
Ratan, R. Miller, D. B. and Bailenson, J. N.. (2022). Facial appearance dissatisfaction explains differences in Zoom fatigue. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 25(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2021.0112
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Lim, C., Beyea, D., Leith, A., Foxman, M., Ratan, R., Klebig, B. (2025, January) The Hyperpersonal Model of Communication in Virtual Meetings: Exploring the Roles of Fatigue, Social Interaction Anxiety, Muting, and Avatar Use in Meeting Engagement. To be published in Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). Hawaii, USA.
Foxman, M., Bouzek. D., Lim, C., Ratan, R., Klebig, B., Leith, A.P., & Beyea, D. (2024, July) Making a virtual playground: Values-based game design in meeting platforms. To be published in 2024: Abstract Proceedings of DiGRA 2024 Conference: Limits and Margins of Games. Guadalajara, Mexico.
Lim, C., Foxman, M., Leith, A.P., Meshi, D., Ratan, R. (2024, July) Wanting playfulness to counter fatigue from virtual meetings: Associations with social interaction anxiety and workaholism. To be published in 2024: Proceedings of DiGRA 2024 Conference: Limits and Margins of Games. Guadalajara, Mexico.
Milik, O. T., Jang, D., Foxman, M., Klebig, B., Beyea, D., Leith, A. P., & Ratan, R. A. (2024, November). Focusing on Virtual Groups: A Method for Focus Group Interviews in XR/VR Group Settings. To be published in Association of Internet Researchers Selected Papers of Internet Research.
Foxman, M., Ratan, R., Bouzek, D., & Leith, A. P. (2023, June). Virtually limited: Boundaries of play in virtual reality production. Proceedings of the 2023 Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) International Conference. https://dl.digra.org/index.php/dl/article/download/1979/1978
Leith, A. P., Foxman, M., Onuche, M., Ratan, R., & Lim, C. (2023, June). Mixed feelings and realities: Joyful to nauseating sentiments about VR on Twitter. Proceedings of the 2023 Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) International Conference. https://dl.digra.org/index.php/dl/article/view/2105
Foxman, M., Leith, A. P., Beyea, D., Klebig, B., Chen, V. H. H., & Ratan, R. (2020, November). Virtual reality genres: Comparing preferences in immersive experiences and games. CHI PLAY '20: Extended Abstracts of the 2020 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 237-241). ACM Digital Library. https://doi.org/10.1145/3383668.3419881
IMAGES
A part of the VRChat world.
An image of the spawn ship.
The 3d pen in use.