Surrogate-Aloud: A Human Surrogate Method for Remote Usability Evaluation and Ideation in Virtual Reality

Virtual and augmented reality offer comparative performance in terms of remote usability testing to lab-based co-located settings. However, direct contact with a researcher is still required to provide setup, troubleshoot, and training. In this paper, we present Surrogate-Aloud as a remote ideation and usability method that establishes a surrogate relationship between participants and a facilitating researcher through video conferencing. The researcher wears a VR headset and shares their viewpoint through video conferencing to a remote participant, who applies think-aloud protocol to express movement and interaction commands to be executed by the researcher, alongside their thought process as they interact with virtual prototypes or scenarios. We conducted a preliminary study to evaluate the Surrogate-Aloud method for remote usability evaluation and ideation of a new instructional technique with volumetric recordings. Results show that Surrogate-Aloud leverages the surrogate’s technical expertise and enables sufficient capability to conduct truly remote usability evaluation and ideation.