Extended reality has generated great interest in recent years, among other things, due to the potential it has to transmit non-verbal communication and offer solutions to current distancing problems. This work proposes a gamified experience of three use cases that meet real-life scenarios: teleassistance, guided route, and remote technical support. The objective is to solve each of the scenario tasks that involve collaboration between local and remote users through 360-degree video communication. Specifically, 2D and 3D objects hide symbols that local users must decipher with the help of remote users, who have the necessary information to do that. In this way, the technology (360-degree video communication) and additional tools included in the system are tested: a magnifying glass to offer remote users certain areas of the scene with higher quality, visualization of the hands with the headset to make the experience more realistic, and the cartoon avatars to increase perceived social presence during the interaction. This experience considers the needs of real hybrid meeting applications that have been gamified to test 360-degree video communication but apply to other XR technologies.

This paper evaluates a virtual teleportation system based on 360-degree video communication in a field study at a secondary school and a guided debate training session. Socioemotional aspects, including social presence and avatar representation, were assessed by eight teens. Key findings include a higher "wow" effect for those joining the immersive environment, and challenges with avatar interaction such as raising their hand. The system shows promise as an educational tool for debate training and student engagement.

Users' perception of multimedia quality and satisfaction with multimedia services are the subject of various studies in the field of Quality of Experience (QoE). In this respect, subjective studies of quality represent an important part of the multimedia optimization process. However, researchers who measure QoE have to face its multidimensional character and address the fact that quality perception is influenced by numerous factors. To address this issue, experiments measuring QoE often limit the scope of factors influencing subjective judgments by administering laboratory protocols. However, the generalizability of the results gathered with such protocols is limited. The proposed PhD dissertation aims to address this challenge. In order to increase the generalizability of QoE studies we started with an identification of factors influencing user multimedia experience in a natural context. We proposed a new theoretical model of video QoE based on both original research and a literature review. This new theoretical framework allowed us to propose new experimental designs introducing influencing factors one by one in an additive manner. Thanks to the model, we can also propose comparable experiments which could differ in ecological validity. The proposed theoretical framework can be adjusted to other multimedia in the future.

This paper discusses the problem of ecological va-lidity of Quality of Experience experiments in a broader context of internal and external validity. We argue that the issue of trade-off between control in the experiment and generalization of the results requires diverse experimental protocols. To enable this process comparability of experiments has to be guaran-teed. To improve comparability and communication between researchers, we propose using theoretical models as tools for clearly communicating the assumptions underlying subjective experiments. These models describe the relationships between variables and enable comparability of research. We demonstrate how the theoretical model of video QoE can be used for the comparison of three independent QoE studies. In conclusion, we stress that ecological validity is a mean to an extended external validity. We suggest that new experimental protocols that increase the number of Influence Factors (IFs) measured have to provide comparability with other experiments. Theoretical models can facilitate this process and stimulate higher comparability between studies in QoE subdomains. A community effort is needed to adjust the theoretical model to new use cases, particularly with new immersive multimedia. This paper inspires further research on ecological validity in QoE and encourages the adoption of theoretical models for more comparable research designs.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of videoconferencing for medical consultations between patients and general practitioners (GPs) has strongly increased. The aim of this work-in-progress paper is to investigate which factors (technical and non-technical) influence patients' and doctor's Quality of Experience with video consultations (“tele-consultations”) and how. We report on findings from an online questionnaire (N=109) and an (ongoing) semi-structured interview study targeting GPs (N=4), highlighting the importance of both technical and nontechnical factors.