“Invisible Illness Is No Longer Invisible”: Making Social VR Avatars More Inclusive for Invisible Disability Representation

Abstract

As social virtual reality (VR) experiences become more popular, it is critical to design accessible and inclusive embodied avatars. At present, there are few, if any, customization features for invisible disabilities (e.g., chronic health conditions, mental health conditions, neurodivergence) in social VR platforms. To our knowledge, researchers have yet to explore how people with invisible disabilities want to self-represent and disclose disabilities through social VR avatars. We fill this gap in current accessibility research by centering the experiences and preferences of people with invisible disabilities. We conducted semi-structured interviews with nine participants and found that people with invisible disabilities used a unique, indirect approach to inform dynamic disclosure practices. Participants were interested in toggling representation on/off across contexts and shared ideas for representation through avatar design. In addition, they proposed ways to make the customization process more accessible (e.g., making it easier to import custom designs). We see our work as a vital contribution to the growing literature that calls for more inclusive social VR.

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