Virtual reality (VR) conferencing has the potential to provide geographically dispersed users with an immersive environment, enabling rich social interactions and user experience using avatars. However, remote communication in VR inevitably introduces end-to-end (E2E) latency, which can significantly impact user experience. To clarify the impact of latency, we conducted subjective experiments to analyze how it influences interaction fluency from the perspective of quality perception and social presence from the perspective of social cognition, comparing VR conferencing with traditional video conferencing (VC). Specifically, interaction fluency emphasizes user perception of interaction pace and responsiveness and is assessed using Absolute Category Rating (ACR) method. In contrast, social presence focuses on the cognitive understanding of interaction, specifically whether individuals can comprehend the intentions, emotions, and behaviors expressed by others. It is primarily measured using the Networked Minds Social Presence Inventory (NMSPI). Building on this analysis, we further investigate the relationship between interaction fluency and social presence under different latency conditions to clarify the underlying perceptual and cognitive mechanisms. The findings from these subjective tests provide meaningful insights for optimizing the related systems, helping to improve interaction fluency and enhancing social presence in immersive virtual environments.

翻译：虚拟现实（VR）会议有潜力为地理上分散的用户提供沉浸式环境，通过虚拟化身实现丰富的社会交互与用户体验。然而，VR中的远程通信不可避免地引入了端到端（E2E）延迟，这可能显著影响用户体验。为阐明延迟的影响，我们开展了主观实验，从质量感知角度分析其对交互流畅性的影响，并从社会认知角度分析其对社交临场感的影响，同时将VR会议与传统视频会议（VC）进行了比较。具体而言，交互流畅性强调用户对交互节奏和响应性的感知，采用绝对类别评分（ACR）方法进行评估。相比之下，社交临场感侧重于对交互的认知理解，特别是个人能否理解他人表达的意图、情感和行为，主要通过网络化心智社交临场感量表（NMSPI）进行测量。基于此分析，我们进一步研究了不同延迟条件下交互流畅性与社交临场感之间的关系，以阐明其背后的感知与认知机制。这些主观测试的结果为优化相关系统提供了有意义的见解，有助于提升沉浸式虚拟环境中的交互流畅性并增强社交临场感。