Social Presence and Embodied Interaction: Human Connection and Collaboration in Virtual Reality

The core problem we seek to address is the current gap in achieving truly authentic, trustworthy, and productive interpersonal connections in VR. While technology can simulate co-presence, creating interactions that feel genuinely natural and foster real empathy and collaboration remains a challenge. The goal of this Research Topic is to explore how technological innovation, combined with insights from psychology and social science, can be used to build virtual environments that facilitate deeper human connection. We aim to investigate how the fidelity of virtual avatars influences communication and trust-building, how to design intuitive multi-modal interaction paradigms that support non-verbal communication, and how to ensure these social VR spaces are ethical, safe, and inclusive. This involves not only technical progress in graphics and interaction but also a deeper understanding of the human factors involved.Virtual reality is rapidly evolving from an isolated experience to a foundation for shared social spaces and the metaverse. This shift makes the understanding and enhancement of social presence—the sensation of being together with others in a virtual environment—and embodied interaction—where users feel a sense of agency and ownership over a virtual body—critically important. Technological advancements, such as AI-driven gesture capture, eye-tracking, and haptic feedback, are enabling the creation of hyper-realistic avatars that can convey subtle non-verbal cues. Meanwhile, research at the intersection of AI and VR is creating intelligent environments that can perceive user emotions and adapt interactions in real time, pushing the boundaries of realistic and meaningful virtual social experiences. We invite research that explores the technical, psychological, and social dimensions of social presence and embodied interaction in VR. Specific themes of interest include:• Objective and subjective measurement of social presence.• Impact of avatar fidelity and embodiment on user behavior and perception.• Novel interaction paradigms for non-verbal communication and collaboration.• AI-powered interactive characters and social environments.• Ethical, safety, and governance frameworks for social VR.• Applications in mental health support, remote education, enterprise collaboration, and cultural exchange.We are interested in a variety of manuscript types, including Original Research, Case Studies, Systematic Reviews, and Perspective articles, that contribute to the advancement of socially immersive VR. Topic editors: Xiaoping Che, Mario Lorenz, Chao Chen, Wei Song Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/76495/social-presence-and-embodied-interaction-human-connection-and-collaboration-in-virtual-reality