"Hello I am here'': Proximal Nonverbal Cues Role in Initiating Social Interactions in VR

Virtual Reality (VR) has revolutionized social interactions, but limited field of view (FoV) remains a significant obstacle. Users often fail to notice others within the virtual environment, hindering social engagement. To facilitate initiating social interactions, we developed a novel social signaling technique that utilizes proximal nonverbal cues to indicate users' location, name, and interests within a social distance. In a 2 x 2 mixed user study, we found that this technique greatly enhanced social presence and interaction quality among users with prior social ties. Our signaling technique has tremendous potential to facilitate social interactions across various social virtual events, such as staff meetings and reunions.