Safety vs. Social Image: Co-Designing Protection Mechanisms Against Ableist Harassment with People with Disabilities in Social Virtual Reality
2026-08-13 • Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Computer Interaction
AI summaryⓘ
The authors studied how people with disabilities use avatars in social virtual reality but face harassment due to increased visibility. They worked with 11 people with disabilities to create safety features that match their social needs, using a theory about personal space to design protections based on how close others are in VR. Their findings show that people with disabilities think about harassment and safety differently, often balancing staying safe with keeping a good social image. The authors offer design ideas to protect users while respecting their social preferences.
People with disabilitiesVirtual realityAvatarsHarassmentSafety featuresHall's Proxemics TheorySocial spaceCo-designSocial imageUser experience design
Authors
Kexin Zhang, Daniel Killough, Xinran Adeline Li, Yaxing Yao, Yuhang Zhao
Abstract
People with disabilities (PWD) increasingly use avatars to express disability identities in social virtual reality (VR), but greater visibility also invites targeted harassment. Existing safety features are often insufficient, overlooking PWD's experiences and needs. To address this gap, we co-designed protection mechanisms with 11 PWD to reveal their values and needs. Our research employed a social lens to interpret harassment behaviors and protection mechanisms. Inspired by Hall's Proxemics Theory that interpersonal distances indicate social intent and boundaries, we divided social VR spaces into four proxemic zones (Intimate, Personal, Social, and Public) and used them to structure our protection mechanism co-design. We also provided different protection mechanism probes (Inform, Educate, Consent, and Combat) to elicit participant preferences. Our study highlighted the role of social proximity in shaping PWD's harassment perception and protection preferences and revealing PWD's unique social values and needs (e.g., managing harassment with optimism and resilience, prioritizing social image over safety). We proposed design recommendations for protection mechanisms that protect PWD while maintaining their desired social images.