Zoom Fatigue

The exhaustion and mental strain experienced from prolonged use of video conferencing platforms, caused by the increased cognitive effort required to process non-verbal cues such as facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language through imperfect audiovisual technology. For deaf and hard of hearing users, Zoom fatigue is compounded by the need to simultaneously monitor captions, interpreter video, speaker video, presentation materials, and chat — all through a two-dimensional screen that lacks the spatial and haptic feedback of face-to-face interaction. Recommendations to mitigate this fatigue include regular breaks, improved audio and video quality, availability of auto-captions, post-meeting transcripts, and reducing the number of active video feeds.