Social Presence in Remote Collaboration Across the Reality-Virtuality Continuum

Extended Reality (XR) technologies offer new opportunities for remote collaboration, by creating novel shared spaces beyond traditional video calls. While virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) is often used for XR collaboration, current systems allow for a range of environments along the reality-virtuality continuum. These range from physical spaces with minimal augmentation to fully virtual worlds, as well as the steps in-between, which could provide possibilities to further enhance remote collaboration. However, it remains unclear how these different levels of virtuality affect social presence, a crucial factor in collaboration quality. We conducted a lab study (N=60) where remote dyads collaborated across four environments, ranging from an augmented physical room to a fully virtual space station, with increasing virtuality gradually replacing the real room. We measured social presence using the Networked Minds Social Presence Inventory and interpersonal distance, complemented by semi-structured interviews. Results show that fully virtual environments elicited significantly higher social presence than augmented ones, particularly due to the immersive quality and shared spatial experience of VR. However, participants noted that AR’s connection to the real world may be beneficial in professional contexts. Our findings offer empirical insight into how varying levels of virtuality shape social presence in XR.