Secondary school systems often reward predictable, mark-bearing performance, making experimentation feel risky, especially in under-resourced contexts, where time, attention, and materials are tightly managed. We report on an exploratory case study of a charity-led digital arts programme delivered in two low-socioeconomic secondary schools in which immersive (i.e., Virtual Reality) and non-immersive (i.e., tablet-based) digital tools were introduced into Year 7 (400+ pupils, typically aged 11–12) curriculum. Through thematic analysis of the lesson observation notes and student surveys, we show that pupils take more creative risks, value exploration, iterate more, and increasingly learn through and with peers. We characterise shifts in classroom ecology, including shared talk, turn-taking, micro-tutorials, and practices of care and repair that help sustain learning-in-process. Finally, we analyse the breakdowns and trade-offs of deploying off-the-shelf creative technologies in low-resource school routines, and derive deployment lessons for resilient, bottom-up creative technology curricula that fit everyday classrooms.

In underserved coastal communities, the adoption of digital technology is deeply stratified. While schools with high socio-economic status (SES) leverage technology for creative agency, under-resourced schools often face a second-level digital divide, where hardware is treated as a disruption rather than a tool for inquiry. We investigate this dynamic through an exploratory study of a digital arts programme in low-SES UK secondary schools, in which Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers served as advisors and observers of a co-created partnership between schools and a local digital arts charity. Our findings reveal a pedagogical chasm. Systemic constraints and assessment pressures force teachers into the role of risk-averse behavioural gatekeepers, while external facilitators manage the creative play. However, we identify how students bridge this gap by establishing peer infrastructures, shared talk and repair work that transform technical breakdowns into possibility spaces for learning. We argue that sustainable integration requires designing for school settings to empower the human relationships central to creative technology use.

Adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) face systemic social exclusion that narrows autonomy and life opportunities. While social virtual reality (VR) offers a powerful medium for identity expression and community belonging, research often adopts a remedial paradigm, focusing on training functional skills in scripted environments. This paper challenges this deficit-based model by treating social VR as an open world for participation. Following 11 adults with ID across multi-session engagements with VRChat, we employed an adaptive, relational method to scaffold participant leadership. Findings reveal that participants used the platform for interest-driven discovery, sustained through interdependent care webs. Crucially, the study demonstrates how social VR supports transferable confidence and emerging digital citizenship, enabling some users to transition from novices to community leaders. We contribute six Disability Justice-aligned design principles articulating a world-making paradigm that reorients Human-Computer Interaction toward supporting personhood and self-determination in mainstream digital publics.

Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) enables controlled exposure to trauma-related stimuli to facilitate memory access and emotional processing. However, the field remains underexplored for complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD). Unlike single-trauma PTSD, C-PTSD requires highly individualized triggers that are difficult to identify and implement safely. We conducted a feasibility study with 11 patients, two trauma therapists, and a VR developer to explore integrating VRET into C-PTSD treatment while safeguarding all stakeholders. Initial findings indicate that simple objects can be just as effective as complex scenes, therapeutic success does not correlate with VR presence levels, and the design process itself became integral to therapy rather than preparatory. However, involving developers in therapy sessions led to considerable emotional stress and role confusion, which required a cautious approach. Based on these insights, we provide methodological recommendations for safe and patient-centered VRET studies that balance therapeutic effectiveness with stakeholder safety across the research process.

Personal tracking technologies for family life, including speech tracking, have long been conceptualised in HCI as tools to support wellbeing and parenting at scale. However, speech tracking is inherently invasive because it captures intimate family interactions, and its ethical introduction and appropriation into everyday life remains uncertain. Using research through design, we examined family speech tracking by developing seven plausible design fictions grounded in parenting theory, and then conducting a 1-week technology probe study with 60 parents to understand their perceptions. Parents envisaged both positive and negative outcomes for family speech tracking, including concerns about diminishing authentic connection and potential misappropriation. Unlike existing parenting interventions, parents envisioned technologies supporting children’s intervention goals directly rather than focusing on parental skill development. We contribute seven evidence-informed speculative speech tracking concepts, empirical insights revealing concerns about diminishing authentic parent-child connection, and identification of technical, interactional, and systemic sociotechnical dilemmas.

Digital health interventions in the Global South often rely on transmission models, assuming that delivering correct medical information yields better care. We challenge this view through an analysis of a multi-platform social media intervention for Community-Based stroke Rehabilitation(CBR) in rural Thailand. Following a collaborative development process with clinicians and a deployment across roughly 2,000 villages, we interviewed 28 caregivers, patients, and health volunteers. We found that communities appropriated the technology in unexpected ways, such as using videos as “social objects” to manage family hierarchies, integrating rehabilitation into Buddhist merit-making, and prioritising offline peer networks over online discussion. Our findings suggest that effective Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI) for digital health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) should look beyond engagement metrics to support the appropriation of digital tools, enabling communities to integrate clinical protocols into their existing cultural and relational fabrics.

Music is increasingly performed and experienced in Social Virtual Reality (Social VR), from VRChat raves to high-production concerts on bespoke platforms. Yet Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI) research still focuses mainly on building new VR systems rather than examining the communities that already create and sustain these practices. We present a cultural mapping of the Social VR music scene based on 84 survey responses, 27 interviews, and 17 event observations with diverse stakeholders, including audience members, musicians, developers, platform owners, and event organisers. We found that the scene operates as a fragmented cross-platform ecosystem sustained by user-generated infrastructure and continuous community labour. The bottom-up organisation produces role fluidity with individuals dynamically shifting between roles as performers, world builders, organisers, and audience members. However, the openness that enables this creativity also creates tensions between expectations of free access and the financial and emotional labour required to keep events running. Taken together, our findings reveal the vibrant cultural practices that continue to flourish in Social VR, even as corporate narratives declare the “metaverse” dead.

Social virtual reality (VR) encompasses a growing network of three-dimensional virtual worlds where users interact in a shared, embodied way. While research has focused on the social interactions between the users themselves, less is known about how the design of virtual spaces influences these interactions. Our study combines interviews with 15 social VR users logging over 1,000 hours and a 20-hour spatial protocol of a purposeful sampling of VR worlds. We analysed how spatial characteristics (including proportion, sightlines, materiality, atmosphere, and navigation) influence meaningful user interaction to turn space into place. We synthesised four place types for a new social VR typology: Cuddle worlds that encourage cosy conversations; Mingle worlds that facilitate new encounters; Venture worlds that promote exploration; and Guided worlds that elicit a sense of belonging with the online community. By relating architectural affordances to social patterns, we contribute insights towards the purposeful design of social VR places.

Figure 1: First page previews of our Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and LINE platforms, aligned from left to right

This paper explores the integration of co-design and art-making in developing technologies that support personhood in dementia care. While technologies for dementia care have advanced, there remains a gap in creating solutions that are directly informed by the experiences of people living with dementia and support their individuality. In collaboration with the specialist arts organisation Bright Shadow CIO, our work involves engaging people living with dementia in the design process. Over five weeks of co-design sessions, 44 participants worked alongside artists to craft four physical boxes that represent “meaningful places.” The physical boxes were then transformed into VR environments, allowing participants to immerse themselves in and interact with their creations from a first-person perspective. Our findings demonstrate that VR alone is insufficient in dementia care. For VR to be meaningful, it must be be part of a broader intervention that includes trust-building, sensory engagement, and creative involvement. Within this process, art-making serves as both a method and medium, providing a means of self-expression and connection to identity. Our findings challenge conventional approaches to dementia-focused VR, advocating for a shift toward inclusive and care-driven technology design.

Alternative Research Outcomes (AROs) go beyond traditional academic publications, taking diverse forms such as documentaries, DIY tutorials, or exhibitions. With growing recognition of the need for more inclusive and contextually appropriate research dissemination, AROs are particularly relevant in HCI and design research. Yet, little has been discussed on why it is important to work on AROs. What are key qualities of AROs? How can the HCI community benefit from learning more about creating AROs? By analyzing six case studies, we propose four qualities of AROs and demonstrate how they emerge in the timeline of a research project. We argue AROs can be adapted to diverse audience needs and share research insights that may extend beyond the original research goals. Our work contributes to a deeper understanding of how AROs can support inclusive research dissemination practices, enabling HCI researchers to engage broader audiences and extend the relevance of their work.

Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly being used to support workplace well-being, but many interventions focus narrowly on a single activity or goal. Our work explores how VR can meet the diverse physical and mental needs of knowledge workers. We developed Tranquil Loom, a VR app offering stretching, guided meditation, and open exploration across four environments. The app includes an AI assistant that suggests activities based on users emotional states. We conducted a two-phase mixed-methods study: (1) interviews with 10 knowledge workers to guide the apps design, and (2) deployment with 35 participants gathering usage data, well-being measures, and interviews. Results showed increases in mindfulness and reductions in anxiety. Participants enjoyed both structured and open-ended activities, often using the app playfully. While AI suggestions were used infrequently, they prompted ideas for future personalization. Overall, participants viewed VR as a flexible, “dropin” tool, highlighting its value for situational rather than prescriptive well-being support.

Our work explores how audiences perceive and engage with remote music events. The shift to digital platforms has transformed the live music experience, leading to the rise of remote music performances. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, platforms such as Twitch have been repurposed and surged in popularity as meaningful outlets for live music dissemination. Concurrently, novel platforms specifically crafted for music events have begun to emerge. Understanding the preferences and challenges of remote music audiences is crucial because it guides the development of platforms that effectively answer varied user needs, which could enhance overall engagement and shape the future of music consumption. For this, we employed a qualitative multi-method approach, including a survey, interviews, and event observations, to start mapping the design space of remote music performances and capture a wide spectrum of audience perspectives. Our findings reveal audience engagement patterns in remote music events across different digital platforms, highlighting unmet needs, desires as well as opportunities for future HCI work in this area.

This paper examines the design of technology for remote music performances, from the perspective of their audiences. In this process, we involved a total of 104 participants across the different stages of our project. Initially, we collected qualitative data from remote audiences using several methods, including surveys, interviews, and observations. Through the thematic analysis of this data, we identified four design dimensions consisting of 17 key elements that illustrate what audiences value in remote music spaces. We applied these insights in a participatory design workshop with diverse stakeholders, contributing to the development of speculative design ideas in this field. The paper concludes by presenting key design insights for future technology advancements in remote music performances. The research contributes to the evolving design space of remote music performances, offering valuable perspectives for researchers, designers, and industry stakeholders.

Human behaviour and habits co-evolve with technology, and the metaverse is poised to become a key player in reshaping how we live our everyday life. Given the importance of food in our daily lives, we ask: how will our relationships with food be transformed by the metaverse, and what are the promises and pitfalls of this technology? To answer this, we propose a co-design study that reveals the important elements people value in their daily interactions with food. We then present a speculative catalogue of novel metaverse food experiences, and insights from discussing these ideas with food designers, anthropologists and metaverse experts. Our work aims to provide designers with inspirations for building a metaverse that: provides inclusive opportunities for the future of food; helps re-discover the forgotten or lost knowledge about food; facilitates the exploration, excitement and joy of eating; and reinvigorates the ways that food can soothe and heal.

Location-aware mobile guides are a popular technology for enhancing the experience of heritage walks in historical outdoor sites. Smartphones, as typical mediums for such systems, have been criticised for limiting users’ opportunities for embodied engagement with the environment. In this work, we investigate how display technologies beyond the traditional personal mobile screen can facilitate embodied experiences during outdoor heritage walks. To do this, we revisit the use of portable projected displays as a medium that allows us to explore the effects of overt and blended displays in this context. We conducted a study with 42 participants on an outdoor heritage walk, using two display modalities: smartphone and projected display. We discovered that besides the display modality, users’ attitude toward technology, their embodied relationship with the device, and incorporation of spatial aspects in interaction play a key role in generating engagement and shaping the experience of heritage walks.

The acoustic and visual experiences of musicians in the spaces they perform in are complex and organic in nature, entailing a continuous interaction with the environment. With this project, we leverage the power of Virtual Reality (VR) to support musicians in their creative practice by transporting them to novel sonic and visual worlds. For this, we developed a musician-centred VR system, featuring various acoustic and visual virtual environments, VR Rehearse & Perform, based on design requirements gathered with musicians and performance experts. To investigate how VR can be designed to support music-makers in their creative musical practice, we performed iterative tests with 19 musicians followed by semi-structured interviews. Our findings suggest that VR has the potential to support different aspects of the creative musical practice, such as rehearsing, performing and improvising. Our research provides insights and inspirations toward designing musician-centred VR experiences for various musical activities.

In this paper, we propose VR Rehearse & Perform - a Virtual Reality application for enhancing the rehearsal efforts of performers by providing them access to accurate recreations - both visual and acoustical - of iconic concert venues.