Adaptation and Effects of Social-VR as a Tool for Overcoming Social Distance in Higher Education

The measures taken to combat the Covid-19 pandemic are having a negative impact on the social lives of university students, which can have detrimental effects on their psychological well-being and motivation. This project proposes to provide a group of students with consumer-grade VR devices and access to a new "VR campus" application. Students will be involved in a range of collaborative tasks and social activities on this VR campus over two months, and their impact on students' well-being and motivation will be explored. The results will reveal the practical aspects that need to be taken into account for a wider application of consumer-grade Virtual Reality technology to improve the difficult social, (mental) health and educational situation of students due to the Corona crisis.