Skip to main content

Positive social interaction is a priority for Google's VR projects

msi oculus vr rift collaboration backpack pc on matt back2
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
No matter where you go on the internet, if there’s a capacity for social interaction, there’s likely to be at least one individual in attendance who is trolling other users. And if this phenomenon plays out so frequently on message boards and in comments sections, what’s to stop it happening in the immersive atmosphere of a virtual reality experience?

VR trolling might seem like the basis for an episode of Black Mirror, but it’s a real concern to Google’s Daydream Labs team, according to a report from UberGizmo. The group has set about finding a solution to this problem, which will only become more visible as the technology is adopted more widely.

A post on Google’s developer blog details one scenario where the Daydream team found that their content was being used as a backdrop for negative social interactions. Users were placed in a virtual storefront where they could try on various hats, sunglasses, and accessories — and it didn’t take long for certain individuals to try placing items on their friends, even obscuring others’ vision with a hat placed directly in their line of sight.

In and of itself, that may sound like no big deal, even a good bit of fun between friends. However, if we’re aiming toward virtual environments where strangers can interact with one another, permitting the opportunity to screw around with someone else’s experience really isn’t desirable.

Personal space is important, even in a virtual environment. Another piece of evidence offered up by the post’s author, UX designer Robbie Tilton, refers to a poker game project. The team found that players would sometimes attempt to steal a rival’s chips if the rival left their seat during the game, and effects were deployed to discourage this type of behavior.

The idea works both ways too, as positive reinforcement seems to encourage positive interaction. Tilton describes a project where players could perform a virtual high-five that would be accompanied by a fireworks animation and a loud sound effect. This action proved to be much more popular among users than simply hitting or striking one another, which didn’t result in such a spectacular result.

Social interactions in a VR environment raise completely different challenges to those that take place across the internet. As the hardware used to run these kinds of experiences continues to mature, work like the research being done by Daydream Labs may allow the software side of the equation to evolve at a similar pace.

Editors' Recommendations

Brad Jones
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
Best OLED monitor deals: Get an OLED screen from just $450
Marvel's Spider-Man running on the Samsung Odyssey OLED G8.

Shopping some of the best monitor deals is a good way to save on some extra screen real estate, but if you’re looking for something that can produce a stunning image you should turn your shopping cart toward the OLED monitors. OLED is one of the best picture technologies currently available, and it can create a lifelike image that makes interacting with games, presentations, and creative work much more immersive. The best OLED monitors can run pretty expensive, but that’s what OLED monitor deals are for. If you’re looking for superior picture quality and some ways to save, read onward for more details on the best OLED monitor deals taking place right now.
ViewSonic 15.6-inch VX1655 4K OLED portable monitor — $450, was $500

Getting into the OLED game can be both affordable and portable with the ViewSonic VX1655. It’s a 4K OLED display that’s made to function as either a laptop extension or something to pair with a tablet. It comes in at a super sharp 4K resolution and a refresh rate of 60Hz. This isn’t something you’d want to pair with a gaming PC, but it’s a great little display to keep with you if you do creative work on the run or want some extra screen real estate while working on a tablet at your desk.

Read more
Best monitor deals: Gaming, office, curved, OLED and more
Dell UltraSharp 27 4K PremierColor Monitor

Whether you prefer to work at one of the best desktop computers, the best laptops, or anything in between, an external monitor can be helpful to add some extra screen real estate. One of the best monitors can even go a long way toward reducing eye strain and creating an immersive digital or gaming experience. While high end monitors can get quite expensive, there are always some impressive monitor deals to shop, and we’ve tracked them all down. Reading onward you’ll find what we feel are the best monitor deals, whether you’re shopping for 4K monitors, gaming monitors, ultrawide monitors, or more general monitors meant for all-purpose users.
Best monitor deals

The following deals represent a best-of of the deals below. They're selected to give a mixture of prices, styles, and levels of discount. If you don't see something you like, don't worry, as the following sections will have plenty more deals for you to choose from. However, this is a highly recommended place to start:

Read more
7 best Chromebooks for 2024: the best for every budget
Close up of the Chrome logo on the top of a Chromebook.

Chromebooks might have a hard time competing with Windows laptops and MacBooks, but that doesn't mean they don't have their place. We've reviewed hundreds of laptops over the years, testing for important qualities like performance, battery life, and display quality — and we've found that Chromebooks consistently excel at performance and reliability.

You can find Chromebooks from Google, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and many others, and we've dug through them to put together this roundup of the best Chromebooks on the market. They're incredibly accessible devices, and for the right person, a Chromebook can be the best laptop in terms of value.

Read more