{"682263":{"#nid":"682263","#data":{"type":"news","title":"AR\/VR Researchers Bring Immersive Experience to News Stories","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt hasn\u2019t been long since consumers put down the newspaper and picked up their phones to get their news.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt may not be long before augmented reality\/virtual reality (AR\/VR) headsets cause them to keep their phones in their pockets when they want to read The New York Times or The Washington Post.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EData visualization and AR\/VR researchers at Georgia Tech are exploring how users can interact with news stories through AR\/VR headsets and are determining which stories are best suited for virtual presentation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETao Lu\u003C\/strong\u003E, a Ph.D. student at the School of Interactive Computing, Assistant Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EYalong\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003EYang\u003C\/strong\u003E, and Associate Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EAlex\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003EEndert\u003C\/strong\u003E led a recent study that they say is among the first to explore user preference in virtually designed news stories.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers will present a paper they authored based on the study at the 2025 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems this week in Yokohama, Japan.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDigital platforms have elevated explanatory journalism, which provides greater context for a subject through data, images, and in-depth analysis. These platforms also allow stories to be more visually appealing through graphic design and animation.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELu said AR\/VR can further elevate explanatory journalism through 3D, interactive spatial environments. He added that media organizations should think about how the stories they produce will appear in AR\/VR as much as they think about how they will appear on mobile devices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re giving users another option to experience the story and for designers and developers to show their stories in another modality,\u201d Lu said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA screen-based story on a smartphone is easy to use and cost-effective. However, some stories are better presented in AR\/VR, which will become more popular as technology gets cheaper. AR\/VR can provide 3D spatial information that would be hard to understand on a phone or desktop screen.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EActive or Passive Interactions?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUsing Meta\u2019s Oculus Quest 3, the researchers and their collaborators created four immersive virtual reality simulations from web-based news stories produced by The New York Times:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWhy opening windows was key to classroom ventilation during the Covid-19 pandemic\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe destruction of Black homes and businesses in the Tulsa Race Massacre\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHow climate change could create dramatic dangers in the Atlantic Ocean\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHow 9\/11 changed Manhattan\u2019s financial district\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study aimed to determine whether users prefer to be actively or passively immersed in a story, whether from a first-person or third-person point of view, or a combination of these perspectives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re in the nascent stages of storytelling in VR,\u201d said Endert, whose research specializes in data visualization. \u201cWe lack the design knowledge of which mode of immersion we should use if we want a certain reaction from the audience. Understanding design is at the crux of our study.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EActive immersion gives the user complete control over their experience. The classroom simulation offers a first-person point of view and allows users to teleport from one point in the classroom to another. New information from the story is presented each time the user moves to a new point.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers acknowledged they could design a free-roaming simulation that allows users to walk freely within the classroom. However, they restricted that ability for this study due to safety concerns and lab space constraints.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the Tulsa Race Massacre simulation, which uses a passive, first-person point of view, users follow a predefined route along one of Tulsa\u2019s main streets. Information about each building is presented at each step.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Atlantic Ocean simulation is an active, third-person experience. The user sees a representation of Earth and can select which interaction points to explore to learn new information.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe 9\/11 simulation is a passive third-person experience. Each step includes a narrative paragraph with companion visual elements, and users proceed to the next step through a navigation trigger.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFinding the Right Balance\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELu said that first-person active enhances spatial awareness, while third-person passive improves contextual understanding. Journalists and VR designers must determine which presentation is most effective case by case.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYang said the goal should be to balance interests in making those determinations, which might require compromise. Knowing how users prefer to consume news is critical, but journalists still have an editorial responsibility to decide what the public should know and how to present information.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou have more freedom to explore in an active experience versus a passive experience,\u201d Yang said. \u201cBut if you give them too much freedom, they might stray from your planned narrative and miss important information you think they should know. We want to understand how we can balance both ends of this spectrum and what the right level is that we can give people in storytelling.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study and others indicate that users retain information better when they feel like they are part of the story. Yang said the technology to make that possible isn\u2019t there yet, but it\u2019s coming along as wearable VR devices become more accessible.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe debate is whether these devices will become people\u0027s preferred technology for consuming content. According to the Pew Research Center, 86% of U.S. adults say they at least sometimes get their news from a smartphone, computer, or tablet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI believe AR and VR will be mainstream in the future and will replace everything, but I think there\u2019s a transition period,\u201d Yang said. \u201cOlder devices will exist and act as support. It\u2019s an ecosystem.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPh.D. student Tao Lu, Assistant Professor Yalong Yang, and Associate Professor Alex Endert developed VR simulations of four New York Times stories using Meta\u2019s Oculus Quest 3 headset to study user preferences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir findings suggest that AR\/VR can offer a more spatially rich and emotionally resonant way to experience complex news topics, potentially reshaping how media organizations design and deliver digital stories.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are pioneering the use of augmented and virtual reality (AR\/VR) to transform news consumption by creating immersive, interactive 3D environments."}],"uid":"36530","created_gmt":"2025-05-06 18:52:58","changed_gmt":"2025-05-06 18:55:25","author":"Nathan Deen","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-05-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-05-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677035":{"id":"677035","type":"image","title":"IMG_3568-copy.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAssistant Professor Yalong Yang looks over the shoulder of Ph.D. student Tao Lu as they create a simulation of a news story presented in virtual reality. Photo by Nathan Deen (College of Computing)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1746557625","gmt_created":"2025-05-06 18:53:45","changed":"1746557625","gmt_changed":"2025-05-06 18:53:45","alt":"Assistant Professor Yalong Yang looks over the shoulder of Ph.D. student Tao Lu as they create a simulation of a news story presented in virtual reality.","file":{"fid":"260895","name":"IMG_3568-copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/05\/06\/IMG_3568-copy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/05\/06\/IMG_3568-copy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":9753715,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/05\/06\/IMG_3568-copy.jpg?itok=LP_Hv8pB"}}},"media_ids":["677035"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"1597","name":"Augmented Reality"},{"id":"145251","name":"virtual reality"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}