When collaborating face-to-face, people commonly use the surfaces and spaces around them to perform sensemaking tasks, such as spatially organising documents, notes or images. However, when people collaborate remotely using desktop interfaces they no longer feel like they are sharing the same space. This limitation may be overcome through collaboration in immersive environments, which simulate the physical in-person experience. In this paper, we report on a between-groups study comparing collaborations on image organisation tasks, in an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environment to more conventional desktop conferencing. Collecting data from 40 subjects in groups of four, we measured task performance, user behaviours, collaboration engagement and awareness. Overall, the VR and desktop interface resulted in similar speed, accuracy and social presence rating, but we observed more conversations and interaction with objects, and more equal contributions to the interaction from participants within groups in VR. We also identified differences in coordination and collaborative awareness behaviours between VR and desktop platforms. We report on a set of systematic measures for assessing VR collaborative experience and a new analysis tool that we have developed to capture user behaviours in collaborative setting. Finally, we provide design considerations and directions for future work.

翻译：当面对面合作时,人们通常使用周围的表面和空间来执行感知任务,如空间组织文件、笔记或图像。然而,当人们利用桌面界面进行远程合作时,他们不再觉得他们正在共享相同的空间。这种限制可以通过在浸入式环境中的合作来克服,这种环境可以模拟亲身体验。在本文件中,我们报告了一个小组间研究,比较图像组织任务的合作,在隐蔽的虚拟现实(VR)环境中,与更传统的桌面会议。从四人组40个主题收集数据,我们测量了任务绩效、用户行为、协作参与和认识。总体而言,VR和桌面界面产生了类似的速度、准确性和社会存在评级,但我们观察到与对象的更多交谈和互动,以及VR各组参与者对互动的更平等贡献。我们还确定了VR和桌面平台之间在协调和协作认识行为方面的差异。我们报告了一套系统评估VR协作经验的措施,以及我们开发的新分析工具,以在协作环境中捕捉到用户行为。我们为未来工作设计了各种考虑和方向。