Memory Manipulations in Extended Reality

Bonnail, E., Tseng, W.-J., McGill, M., Lecolinet, E., Huron, S. and Gugenheimer, J. (2023) Memory Manipulations in Extended Reality. In: 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23), Hamburg, Germany, 23-28 Apr 2023, p. 875. ISBN 9781450394215 (doi: 10.1145/3544548.3580988)

Abstract

Human memory has notable limitations (e.g., forgetting) which have necessitated a variety of memory aids (e.g., calendars). As we grow closer to mass adoption of everyday Extended Reality (XR), which is frequently leveraging perceptual limitations (e.g., redirected walking), it becomes pertinent to consider how XR could leverage memory limitations (forgetting, distorting, persistence) to induce memory manipulations. As memories highly impact our self-perception, social interactions, and behaviors, there is a pressing need to understand XR Memory Manipulations (XRMMs). We ran three speculative design workshops (n=12), with XR and memory researchers creating 48 XRMM scenarios. Through thematic analysis, we define XRMMs, present a framework of their core components and reveal three classes (at encoding, pre-retrieval, at retrieval). Each class differs in terms of technology (AR, VR) and impact on memory (influencing quality of memories, inducing forgetting, distorting memories). We raise ethical concerns and discuss opportunities of perceptual and memory manipulations in XR.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Additional Information: This work was partly supported by French government funding managed by the National Research Agency under the Investments for the Future program (PIA) grant ANR-21-ESRE-0030 (CONTINUUM).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McGill, Dr Mark
• Authors: Bonnail, E., Tseng, W.-J., McGill, M., Lecolinet, E., Huron, S., and Gugenheimer, J.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• ISBN: 9781450394215
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: 875
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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