Obscuring Undesirable Individuals to Alleviate Social Discomfort Using Diminished Reality

In interpersonal interactions, individuals often exhibit avoidance behaviors toward others they find unpleasant, which can undermine the comfort of everyday social experiences. Existing human-computer interaction (HCI) research has primarily focused on promoting social connections, while support for avoidance-oriented social situations remains underexplored. To address this gap, we propose leveraging Diminished Reality (DR) technology to obscure perceptual cues of undesirable individuals. We designed and implemented a mixed reality prototype system and conducted experiments manipulating both the occlusion method and social distance. Results indicate that DR significantly reduces users’ social anxiety and sense of social presence. Moreover, participants generally expressed positive attitudes toward usage intention and ethical considerations. This work extends HCI research on social comfort, shifting the focus from “facilitating connection” to “supporting avoidance”.