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The main barriers to distributed interaction are not technological

Nature Astronomy volume 9, pages 11–15 (2025)Cite this article

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For the first time in 2024, the Astronomical Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting was held as an online-first conference, incorporating unprecedented use of immersive spatial venues. This Comment presents findings from this experiment in accessible conferencing and reflects on their implications in the current academic climate.

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Fig. 1: The programme of events that took place as part of ASA2024.
Fig. 2: A custom Spatial venue was constructed for ASA2024 consisting of multi-purpose areas.

courtesy of Spatial, https://spatial.io

Fig. 3: Example of an ASA2024-subsidized VR headset being used at an institution for group access.

Nichole Barry

Fig. 4: Distribution of total hours of Zoom attendance by unique users.
Fig. 5: One of the official conference photos taken during ASA2024.

courtesy of Spatial, https://spatial.io

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Kevin McCusker for assistance and for answering many questions regarding building and deploying in Spatial. We also thank Nichole Barry for the provision of the hub photo (Fig. 3) and for providing valuable feedback on the draft of this Comment. And finally, a wholehearted thank you to all those who joined us for ASA2024 and took the time to engage in the online-first experience — tomorrow's future of meetings is a little brighter thanks to you.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Space & Astronomy, Epping, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Vanessa A. Moss, Emily F. Kerrison & Ron D. Ekers

  2. Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics A28, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Vanessa A. Moss & Emily F. Kerrison

  3. Freelance, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Glen A. Rees

  4. CSIRO Space & Astronomy, Bentley, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

    Aidan W. Hotan

  5. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, Japan

    Elizabeth J. Tasker

  6. ANU Supercomputer Facility, Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Rika Kobayashi

  7. International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Curtin University, Bentley, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

    Clancy W. James

  8. School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Krzysztof Bolejko

  9. School of Physics & Astronomy, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Taïssa Danilovich

  10. Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University, Smithfield, Queensland, Australia

    Emma Rehn

  11. ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, James Cook University, Smithfield, Queensland, Australia

    Emma Rehn

Authors
  1. Vanessa A. Moss
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  2. Glen A. Rees
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vanessa A. Moss.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Moss, V.A., Rees, G.A., Hotan, A.W. et al. The main barriers to distributed interaction are not technological. Nat Astron 9, 11–15 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02460-z

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