Presence in Social VR: Analysis of the Relationships Between Physical and Social Presence

Abstract Social Virtual Reality (SVR) allows real individuals to communicate and engage in simulated physical environments and activities. These systems simultaneously afford social and physical presence. However, the precise nature of various presence states in SVR is unclear. We address this conceptual gap through interviews with SVR users and interpretative phenomenological analysis of the individual responses. Our research shows that physical and social presence are only occasionally co-experienced; presence in SVR often depends on the individual experiences/backgrounds, perceived affordances, or specific goal of technology use. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of presence and its dynamic nature in SVR shaped by the users’ individual experiences. This facilitates how we will study and measure presence in SVR in the future.