Academic events, such as a doctoral thesis defense, are typically limited to either physical co-location or flat video conferencing, resulting in rigid participation formats and fragmented presence. We present a multimodal framework that breaks this binary by supporting a spectrum of participation - from in-person attendance to immersive virtual reality (VR) or browser access - and report our findings from using it to organize the first ever hybrid doctoral thesis defense using extended reality (XR). The framework integrates full-body motion tracking to synchronize the user's avatar motions and gestures, enabling natural interaction with onsite participants as well as body language and gestures with remote attendees in the virtual world. It leverages WebXR to provide cross-platform and instant accessibility with easy setup. User feedback analysis reveals positive VR experiences and demonstrates the framework's effectiveness in supporting various hybrid event activities.

翻译：学术活动（如博士学位论文答辩）通常局限于物理空间的共同在场或平面化的视频会议，导致参与形式僵化且临场感割裂。本文提出一种多模态框架，通过支持从现场出席到沉浸式虚拟现实（VR）或浏览器访问的连续参与谱系，打破了这种二元对立，并报告了利用该框架组织首次基于扩展现实（XR）的混合式博士学位论文答辩的实践发现。该框架集成全身运动追踪以同步用户的虚拟化身动作与手势，使其能够与现场参与者自然交互，并在虚拟世界中与远程参与者通过肢体语言和手势进行交流。框架利用WebXR技术提供跨平台、即时可访问且易于部署的特性。用户反馈分析揭示了积极的VR体验，并证明了该框架在支持各类混合活动场景中的有效性。