Consent, Deception, and Retaliation: Articulating What it Means to Feel Safe in Social Cross-Reality with Participatory Design of VR Dating

Abstract

Social VR has demonstrated new potential for relationships, but also novel forms of immersive and embodied harms. This will soon be followed by cross-reality experiences that support social interaction—and potential harm—across virtual and physical reality, as exemplified by emerging VR dating applications. This paper presents a participatory design study of VR dating with 16 stakeholders identifying as women and/or LGBTQIA+ to reflect on how safety can be designed for in cross-reality—not as a reaction to harm that is already occurring, but as a proactive initiative to address fears that may limit technology adoption and inclusion. Findings elucidate three types of cross-reality harms that participants identified as most related to a sense of safety: physical harm as retaliation for romantic rejection across realities, unintentional physical harm through assuming consent to similar behaviors across realities, as well as risks associated with misinformed decisions to meet in the physical world. Design directions to instill a sense of cross-reality safety involved augmented consent exchange capabilities and intervention of virtually and physically co-located bystanders.