Latency Effects on Multi-Dimensional QoE in Networked VR Whiteboards

2026-03-10

AI Summary

Network latency significantly degrades multidimensional Quality of Experience (QoE) in networked VR whiteboard collaboration. This study decomposes QoE into utilitarian and hedonic dimensions and systematically investigates, through controlled user experiments, how sequential versus free collaboration modes, the presence or absence of virtual avatars in VR whiteboards, and traditional PC-based whiteboards influence QoE under varying latency conditions. The work is the first to elucidate the mechanisms by which latency affects VR collaboration from a multidimensional QoE perspective, identifying the most latency-sensitive QoE sub-dimensions. It further reveals that both collaboration mode and platform type significantly moderate users’ tolerance to latency, offering empirical evidence and actionable design guidance for optimizing networked VR whiteboard systems.

Technology Category

• Computer Vision: Multi-modal Vision
• Humans and AI: Game Design — Virtual Humans, NPCs and Autonomous Characters
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Qualitative Reasoning

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Data quality aspects of human-annotated datasets

Abstract

Networked virtual reality (NVR) whiteboards are increasingly important for enabling geographically dispersed users to engage in real-time idea sharing, collaborative design, and discussion. However, latency caused by network limitations, rendering delays, or synchronization issues can significantly degrade the Quality of Experience (QoE) in whiteboard collaboration. To systematically investigate the impact of latency, this study classified QoE into pragmatic and hedonic aspects, each comprising multiple sub-dimensions. Controlled experiments were conducted to identify the sub-dimensions most affected by latency, which were then adopted as the primary QoE indicators, with the aim of uncovering the processes and mechanisms through which latency shapes QoE. Building on this, we further examined how these impacts vary across different collaboration modes, namely sequential collaboration (SC) for structured design workflows and free collaboration (FC) for open discussion. We also compared two VR whiteboard types, one with avatars (VR+) and the other without avatars (VR), and included a traditional PC-based whiteboard as a baseline. This multi-dimensional design enables a comprehensive evaluation of latency's impact on QoE across collaboration modes and platforms, providing practical guidance for optimizing NVR whiteboard systems under real-world network and system constraints.

Problem

• Latency
• Quality of Experience
• Networked Virtual Reality
• Collaboration Modes
• VR Whiteboards

Innovation

• multi-dimensional QoE
• latency impact
• networked VR whiteboards
• collaboration modes
• avatar presence