Over 100 million retired women in China engage in dance, but their performances are constrained by limited resources and age-related decline. While interactive dance technologies can enhance artistic expression, existing systems are largely inaccessible to non-professional older dancers. This paper explores how interactive dance technologies can be designed with an age-sensitive approach to support retired women in enhancing their stage performance. We conducted two workshops with community-based retired women dancers, employing interactive dance and LLM-powered video generation probes in co-design activities. Findings indicate that age-sensitive adaptations—such as low-barrier keyword input, motion-aligned visual effects, and participatory scaffolds—lowered technical barriers and fostered a sense of authorship. These features enabled retired women to empower their stage, transitioning from passive recipients of stage design to empowered co-creators of performance. We outline design implications for incorporating interactive dance and artificial intelligence-generated content (AIGC) into the cultural practices of retired women, offering broader strategies for age-sensitive creative technologies.

Inter-generational communication enhances mutual understanding and family connections. In China, traditional Chinese opera (Xiqu) serves as a culturally rich topic that provides common ground, fostering meaningful conversations across generations. However, traditional verbal discussion falls short in bridging the cultural and knowledge gaps, thereby failing to convey the full charm of Xiqu and hindering effective inter-generational Xiqu communication. To address this challenge, this study investigates the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) to bridge these generational divides. Using a mixed-methods approach, we developed and evaluated XiquVR to facilitate inter-generational Xiqu communication. Key findings show that XiquVR transforms one-sided storytelling into collaborative activities, visualizes abstract narratives to bridge generational gaps, and facilitates bidirectional exchanges through AI-assisted knowledge sharing. Furthermore, we propose design implications for developing VR applications centered on culturally significant topics to facilitate inter-generational communication.

The essence of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) lies in the living knowledge and skills passed down through generations. Daily practice plays a vital role in revitalizing ICH by fostering continuous learning and improvement. However, limited resources and accessibility pose significant challenges to sustaining such practice. Virtual reality (VR) has shown promise in supporting extensive skill training. Unlike technical skill training, ICH daily practice prioritizes cultivating a deeper understanding of cultural meanings and values. This study explores VR's potential in facilitating ICH daily practice through a case study of Traditional Chinese Flower Arrangement (TCFA). By investigating TCFA learners' challenges and expectations, we designed and evaluated FloraJing, a VR system enriched with cultural elements to support sustained TCFA practice. Findings reveal that FloraJing promotes progressive reflection, and continuous enhances technical improvement and cultural understanding. We further propose design implications for VR applications aimed at fostering ICH daily practice in both knowledge and skills.

The decline of social connectedness caused by distance and physical limitations severely affects older adults' well-being and mental health. While virtual reality (VR) is promising for older adults to socialize remotely, existing social VR designs primarily focus on verbal communication (e.g., reminiscent, chat). Actively engaging in shared activities is also an important aspect of social connection. We designed RemoteChess, which constructs a social community and a culturally relevant activity (i.e., Chinese chess) for older adults to play while engaging in social interaction. We conducted a user study with groups of older adults interacting with each other through RemoteChess. Our findings indicate that RemoteChess enhanced participants' social connectedness by offering familiar environments, culturally relevant social catalysts, and asymmetric interactions. We further discussed design guidelines for designing culturally relevant social activities in VR to promote social connectedness for older adults.

Digital journaling offers a means for older adults to express themselves, document their lives, and engage in self-reflection, contributing to the maintenance of cognitive function and social connectivity. Although previous works have investigated the motivations and benefits of digital journaling for older adults, little technical support has been designed to offer assistance. We conducted a formative study with older adults and uncovered their encountered challenges and preferences for technical support. Informed by the findings, we designed a Large Language Model (LLM) empowered tool, JournalAIde, which provides vicarious experience, idea organization, sample text generation, and visual editing cues to enhance older adults' confidence, writing ability, and sustained attention during digital journaling. Through a between-subjects study and a field deployment, we demonstrated the JournalAIde's significant effectiveness compared to a baseline system in empowering older adults in digital journaling. We further investigated older adults' experiences and perceptions of LLM writing assistance.

Inter-generational communication plays a vital role in bridging generational gaps and fostering mutual understanding. However, it remains challenging due to differences in cultural norms, communication styles, and geographical separation. While prior studies have shown Virtual Reality (VR) as a medium that fosters a relaxed atmosphere and companionship, its capacity to address the nuanced dynamics of inter-generational dialogue, such as divergent values and relational intricacies, remains limited. To address this gap, we explored the opportunities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support inter-generational communication in VR. We developed three technology probes (e.g., Content Generator, Communication Facilitator, and Info Assistant) in VR and employed them in a probe-based participatory design study with twelve inter-generational pairs. Our results show that AI-powered VR facilitates inter-generational communication by enhancing mutual understanding, fostering conversation fluency, and promoting active participation. We also introduce several challenges when using AI-powered VR in supporting inter-generational communication and derive design implications for future VR platforms, aiming to improve inter-generational communication.

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used as a social platform for users to interact and build connections with one another in an immersive virtual environment. Reflecting on the empirical progress in this area of study, a comprehensive review of how VR could be used to support social interaction is required to consolidate existing practices and identify research gaps to inspire future studies. In this work, we conducted a systematic review of 94 publications in the HCI field to examine how VR is designed and evaluated for social purposes. We found that VR influences social interaction through self-representation, interpersonal interactions, and interaction environments. We summarized four positive effects of using VR for socializing, which are relaxation, engagement, intimacy, and accessibility, and showed that it could also negatively affect user social experiences by intensifying harassment experiences and amplifying privacy concerns. We introduce an evaluation framework that outlines the key aspects of social experience: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and interaction experiences. According to the results, we uncover several research gaps and propose future directions for designing and developing VR to enhance social experience.

In recent years, various head-worn virtual reality (VR) techniques have emerged to enhance object selection for occluded or distant targets. However, many approaches focus solely on ray-casting inputs, restricting their use with other input methods, such as bare hands. Additionally, some techniques speed up selection by changing the user's perspective or modifying the scene context, which may complicate interactions when users plan to resume or manipulate the scene afterward. To address these challenges, we present FocalSelect, a heuristic selection technique that builds 3D disambiguation through head-hand coordination and scoring-based functions. Our interaction design adheres to the principle that the intended selection range is a small sector of the headset's viewing frustum, allowing optimal targets to be identified within this scope. We also introduce a density-aware adjustable occlusion plane for effective depth culling of rendered objects. Two experiments are conducted to assess the adaptability of FocalSelect across different input modalities and its performance against five selection techniques. The results indicate that FocalSelect enhances selection experiences in occluded and remote scenarios while preserving the spatial context among objects. This preservation helps maintain users' understanding of the original scene and facilitates further manipulation. We also explore potential applications and enhancements to demonstrate more practical implementations of FocalSelect.

The decline of cognitive inhibition significantly impacts older adults’ quality of life and well-being, making it a vital public health problem in today’s aging society. Previous research has demonstrated that Virtual reality (VR) exergames have great potential to enhance cognitive inhibition among older adults. However, existing commercial VR exergames were unsuitable for older adults’ long-term cognitive training due to the inappropriate cognitive activation paradigm, unnecessary complexity, and unbefitting difficulty levels. To bridge these gaps, we developed a customized VR cognitive training exergame (LightSword) based on Dual-task and Stroop paradigms for long-term cognitive inhibition training among healthy older adults. Subsequently, we conducted an eight-month longitudinal user study with 12 older adults aged 60 years and above to demonstrate the effectiveness of LightSword in improving cognitive inhibition. After the training, the cognitive inhibition abilities of older adults were significantly enhanced, with benefits persisting for 6 months. This result indicated that LightSword has both short-term and long-term effects in enhancing cognitive inhibition. Furthermore, qualitative feedback revealed that older adults exhibited a positive attitude toward long-term training with LightSword, which enhanced their motivation and compliance.

The global aging trend compels older adults to navigate the evolving digital landscape, presenting a substantial challenge in mastering smartphone applications. While Augmented Reality (AR) holds promise for enhancing learning and user experience, its role in aiding older adults’ smartphone app exploration remains insufficiently explored. Therefore, we conducted a two-phase study: (1) a workshop with 18 older adults to identify app exploration challenges and potential AR interventions, and (2) tech-probe participatory design sessions with 15 participants to co-create AR support tools. Our research highlights AR’s effectiveness in reducing physical and cognitive strain among older adults during app exploration, especially during multi-app usage and the trial-and-error learning process. We also examined their interactional experiences with AR, yielding design considerations on tailoring AR tools for smartphone app exploration. Ultimately, our study unveils the prospective landscape of AR in supporting the older demographic, both presently and in future scenarios.

When living apart, grandparents and grandchildren often use audio-visual communication approaches to stay connected. However, these approaches seldom provide sufficient companionship and intimacy due to a lack of co-presence and spatial interaction, which can be fulfilled by immersive virtual reality (VR). To understand how grandparents and grandchildren might leverage VR to facilitate their remote communication and better inform future design, we conducted a user-centered participatory design study with twelve pairs of grandparents and grandchildren. Results show that VR affords casual and equal communication by reducing the generational gap, and promotes conversation by offering shared activities as bridges for connection. Participants preferred resemblant appearances on avatars for conveying well-being but created ideal selves for gaining playfulness. Based on the results, we contribute eight design implications that inform future VR-based grandparent-grandchild communications.

Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) is used in clinical psychology for couples' relationship therapy, but physical isolation can make the relationship more strained and inaccessible to LKM. Virtual reality (VR) can provide immersive LKM activities for long-distance couples. However, no suitable commercial VR applications for couples exist to engage in LKM activities of long-distance. This paper organized a series of workshops with couples to build a prototype of a couple-preferred LKM app. Through analysis of participants' design works and semi-structured interviews, we derived design considerations for such VR apps and created a prototype for couples to experience. We conducted a study with couples to understand their experiences of performing LKM using the VR prototype and a traditional video conferencing tool. Results show that LKM session utilizing both tools has a positive effect on the intimate relationship and the VR prototype is a more preferable tool for long-term use. We believe our experience can inform future researchers.

We propose Auth+Track, a novel authentication model that aims to reduce redundant authentication in everyday smartphone usage. By sparse authentication and continuous tracking of the user’s status, Auth+Track eliminates the “gap” authentication between fragmented sessions and enables “Authentication Free when User is Around”. To instantiate the Auth+Track model, we present PanoTrack, a prototype that integrates body and near field hand information for user tracking. We install a fisheye camera on the top of the phone to achieve a panoramic vision that can capture both user’s body and on-screen hands. Based on the captured video stream, we develop an algorithm to extract 1) features for user tracking, including body keypoints and their temporal and spatial association, near field hand status, and 2) features for user identity assignment. The results of our user studies validate the feasibility of PanoTrack and demonstrate that Auth+Track not only improves the authentication efficiency but also enhances user experiences with better usability.

We present HandSee, a novel sensing technique that can capture the state and movement of the user's hands touching or gripping a smartphone. We place a right angle prism mirror on the front camera to achieve a stereo vision of the scene above the touchscreen surface. We develop a pipeline to extract the depth image of hands from a monocular RGB image, which consists of three components: a stereo matching algorithm to estimate the pixel-wise depth of the scene, a CNN-based online calibration algorithm to detect hand skin, and a merging algorithm that outputs the depth image of the hands. Building on the output, a substantial set of valuable interaction information, such as fingers' 3D location, gripping posture, and finger identity can be recognized concurrently. Due to this unique sensing ability, HandSee enables a variety of novel interaction techniques and expands the design space for full hand interaction on smartphones.

Head-mounted Mixed Reality (MR) systems enable touch in­teraction on any physical surface. However, optical methods (i.e., with cameras on the headset) have difficulty in determin­ing the touch contact accurately. We show that a finger ring with Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) can substantially im­prove the accuracy of contact sensing from 84.74% to 98.61% (f1 score), with a low latency of 10 ms. We tested different ring wearing positions and tapping postures (e.g., with different fingers and parts). Results show that an IMU-based ring worn on the proximal phalanx of the index finger can accurately sense touch contact of most usable tapping postures. Partici­pants preferred wearing a ring for better user experience. Our approach can be used in combination with the optical touch sensing to provide robust and low-latency contact detection.