Paper Session 2: Immersive and Embodied Experiences
Date: Monday 2 Nov 2026
Time: 14:00–14:40
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| Time | Presentation | Abstract | Authors | Contribution type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00-14:10 | RPD-Grounded Simulated Users for Pre-screening AR Training Interface Designs: A Unity ML-Agents Approach | Evaluating augmented reality (AR) training interfaces typically requires recruiting domain practitioners, coordinating controlled studies, and incurring the logistical and ethical costs of human-subject testing. This paper presents a pre-screening framework that uses simulated users to surface interface design trade-offs before human trials begin. Agents are built with Unity ML-Agents and grounded in the Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) model, with distinct reward structures derived from Cognitive Task Analysis of paramedic diagnostic reasoning encoding novice and expert decision strategies. We evaluate three interface configurations varying in button density, spatial layout, and labelling across both agent types, and characterize behaviour using behavioural interaction indicators computed from interaction logs and conceptually organized using a structure inspired by the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). Results show that dense dispersed layouts impose the highest temporal and search cost on novice agents, while deceptive clustering imposes the highest temporal and effort cost on expert agents. Search Complexity Indicator diverged between cohorts in a pattern consistent with RPD-predicted selective attention: expert agents narrowed search as complexity increased while novice agents maintained broad attention throughout. These patterns were consistent across behavioural indicator scores and raw interaction metrics including path entropy, inter-click intervals, and idle ratios. The framework requires no human participants, produces reproducible behavioural traces across conditions, and is intended as a complement to human-subject evaluation rather than a replacement. Validation against human self-reported ratings and objective performance data is identified as the essential next step. | Thilakarathna, Wong, Nguyen | Paper |
| 14:10-14:20 | HaptiCoach: Remote Haptic Feedback for Skill Training within Virtual Reality | Remote practice of physical skills is now common, but mainstream videoconferencing tools struggle to convey the embodied, touch-based corrections that are routine in face-to-face coaching. In this paper we present HaptiCoach, an exploratory prototype that combines body-tracked virtual reality with a full-body haptic suit, allowing a live human “coach” to deliver remote touch corrections to a student practising alongside a pre-recorded expert instructor. We use this prototype as a research probe to study, qualitatively, how learners perceive and respond to remote touch during physical practice. In a within-subjects study (N=13) using Tai Chi as the practice context, participants interpreted on-body haptic cues as corrective nudges and reported a sense of social presence around the human-triggered virtual coach. Participants also reported that being touched through the suit avoided the awkwardness they would feel if a real person physically adjusted their arm. Our qualitative data is complemented by quantitative measures which we use to provide context for the for participant interview data. We discuss what these patterns might suggest for the design of future remote physical-skill systems. | Afana, Marshall, Tennent | Paper |
| 14:20-14:30 | Theatrical Co-Design with Families: Exploring Sustainability through the Creation of a Mixed- Reality Installation | Co-designing with families for environmental sustainability relies on participatory imagination, yet habitual family roles and uneven voice, especially between adults and young children, often constrain it. A second challenge is translation across phases: workshop relationships and embodied ways of working do not easily survive into the final design, where artefacts travel more frequently than roles or interactional dynamics. We report on a nationally toured mixed-reality installation developed through applied-theatre-led co-design. Across three workshops, a professional theatre facilitator used applied theatre methods to support families to co-create narratives, artefacts, and interactional roles, and to re-stage workshop ecologies in the public encounter. We show how theatrical co-design fostered richer dialogue and collective creativity that persisted beyond workshops. We distil three design orientations for co-creating mixed-reality performances through applied theatre: rebalancing participation through status play, sustaining embodied practice across phases, and re-staging workshop ecologies within the installation. | Panagiotidis, Patel, Koleva, Benford, Spence, Tennent, Martinez Avila, Cliffe | Paper |
| 14:30-14:40 | Investigating the Relationship Between the Scale of Reflex-Based Challenge and Flow, Immersion, and Game Experience | This study examines how varying levels of reflex-based challenge influence player experience in Geometry Dash, a non-narrative rhythm game. Using a within-subjects design with N = 18 participants (predominantly aged 26 – 33, beginner to intermediate gaming ability), we measured Flow, sensory immersion, and affective states across easy, medium, and difficult game levels using the Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ). Results indicated that Flow peaked at medium difficulty consistent with Csikszentmihalyi’s optimal challenge hypothesis. However, a repeated-measures ANOVA test indicated no significant difference between the medium and difficult conditions. Sensory Immersion remained stable across conditions, while Tension/Annoyance increased linearly with difficulty. Multiple Regression analyses showed challenge consistently predicted Flow, whereas Competence only became significant in difficult conditions. These findings suggest that reflex-based tactical challenge follows distinct patterns that may influence player experience in mechanically focussed, non-narrative games, with implications for designing skill-based games that seek to balance challenge and enjoyment. Methodologically, sensory immersion was analysed separately from imaginative immersion to better reflect the reflex-based gameplay. | Ezzeddine, Vargheese, Sobolewska | Paper |