The Shortcomings of Video Conferencing Technology, Methods for Revealing Them, and Emerging XR Solutions

Abstract

Video conferencing has become a central part of our daily lives, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, so have its many limitations, resulting in poor support for communicative and social behavior and ultimately, “zoom fatigue.” New technologies will be required to address these limitations, including many drawn from mixed reality (XR). In this paper, our goals are to equip and encourage future researchers to develop and test such technologies. Toward this end, we first survey research on the shortcomings of video conferencing systems, as defined before and after the pandemic. We then consider the methods that research uses to evaluate support for communicative behavior, and argue that those same methods should be employed in identifying, improving and validating promising video conferencing technologies. Next we survey emerging XR solutions to video conferencing's limitations, most of which do not employ head-mounted displays. We conclude by identifying several opportunities for video conferencing research in a post-pandemic hybrid working environment.