BF-SATIRE - Social Interactions in Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds - i.e. new computer-based environments in which people can act and communicate with each other in real time thanks to the use of avatars - have received a great deal of social and economic attention in recent years. Industry experts estimate that the increasing migration of various activities away from the regular, two-dimensional (2D) Internet to the three-dimensional world of virtual reality (VR) or 3D Internet will create a large market worth three trillion US dollars. However, the added value, potential, but also the risks that these virtual worlds, as the successor to the regular Internet, could create for people, companies and society are still largely unclear.
This research examines whether social interactions (i.e. Real-time Multisensory Social Interactions, RMSIs) in virtual worlds can create greater benefits than interactions on the 2D Internet (e.g. via Microsoft Teams, Zoom). Interactions between people are examined in two areas, namely in the context of (1) digital collaboration and (2) shared consumption. After the development of theoretical impact models on the influencing factors of digital social interactions in these two central areas of life, empirical findings on the positive and negative effects of 3D vs. 2D Internet on people (employees and consumers) will be collected in a series of studies, in particular by conducting experiments. However, the aim is not only to gain insights into the reactions of people in different digital environments, but also to question the role of the Internet