Purposeful XR: Affordances, Challenges, and Speculations for an Ethical Future

Education, healthcare, poverty, and equity are just some of the social problems in which XR researchers leverage augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality to create novel solutions. In this workshop proposal, we intend on gathering XR researchers who are interested in making a positive impact with their research, and to use this opportunity to discuss leveraging unique affordances of XR technology and common challenges. In our motivation, we refer to recent human computer interaction gatherings that discuss applications of XR to social benefit. Then, we present a background of research across XR technologies and diverse social problems to illustrate example affordances and challenges. To attend the workshop, attendees will submit a position paper on a particular XR affordances and how it can help address a social problem, and optionally submit a demo artifact as a sample for group discussion. The workshop will include a keynote, discussion based activities and demos, and conclude with a speculative exercise, where attendees will work together to describe XR technology in the context of an ethical future.