Subjective and Objective Analyses of Collaboration and Co-Presence in a Virtual Reality Remote Environment

Remote collaboration in virtual reality has gained attention and proved to be a viable solution for providing effective collaboration environments for physically distant collaborators. This study compares head-mounted display (HMD)- and computer-based remote collaboration solutions that allow users to interact with each other through immersive environments. Analyzing remote collaboration in immersive environments requires understanding group interactions and personal experiences. For this purpose, a 3D object assembly task was performed by 10 participants using self-reported surveys and physiological measures to investigate the effectiveness of collaboration from the users' perspective. The results showed that the HMD-based remote collaboration in a virtual reality environment increased the sense of co-presence among the users.