Towards Collaborative Immersive Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

In this paper, we explore how researchers in Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) collaboratively analyse how copresent students interactively identify problems based on video data recorded with multiple 2D and 360° cameras. We are working with a double data set – the original recordings and a recording of the analysis performed in IVR. The focus is on how IVR can be used to analyse 360° video data by a distributed team of researchers. We outline a new methodological approach called Collaborative Immersive Qualitative Analysis (CIQA). In contrast to the branch of work in CSCL that focuses on machine analytics, we present a methodology and software that allows researchers to inhabit the captured scene with tools that encourage a more immersive take on interaction analysis. Until now, IVR has primarily been used as a tool for individual cognitive training, but we suggest that IVR can be used to support a collaborative, volumetric research infrastructure.