scholarly journals Effect of Behavioral Realism on Social Interactions Inside Collaborative Virtual Environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Herrera ◽  
Soo Youn Oh ◽  
Jeremy N. Bailenson
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Nonverbal Behavior ◽  
Interpersonal Attraction ◽  
Arm Movements ◽  
Head Movements ◽  
The Other ◽  
Dyadic Interaction ◽  
Collaborative Virtual Environments

Collaborative virtual environments (CVEs), wherein people can virtually interact with each other via avatars, are becoming increasingly prominent. However, CVEs differ in type of avatar representation and level of behavioral realism afforded to users. The present investigation compared the effect of behavioral realism on users' nonverbal behavior, self-presence, social presence, and interpersonal attraction during a dyadic interaction. Fifty-one dyads (aged 18 to 26) embodied either a full-bodied avatar with mapped hands and inferred arm movements, an avatar consisting of only a floating head and mapped hands, or a static full-bodied avatar. Planned contrasts compared the effect of behavioral realism against no behavioral realism, and compared the effect of low versus high behavioral realism. Results show that participants who embodied the avatar with only a floating head and hands experienced greater social presence, self-presence, and interpersonal attraction than participants who embodied a full-bodied avatar with mapped hands. In contrast, there were no significant differences on these measures between participants in the two mapped-hands conditions and those who embodied a static avatar. Participants in the static-avatar condition rotated their own physical head and hands significantly less than participants in the other two conditions during the dyadic interaction. Additionally, side-to-side head movements were negatively correlated with interpersonal attraction regardless of condition. We discuss implications of the finding that behavioral realism influences nonverbal behavior and communication outcomes.

scholarly journals Despite Appearances: Comparing Emotion Recognition in Abstract and Humanoid Avatars Using Nonverbal Behavior in Social Virtual Reality

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yilu Sun ◽  
Andrea Stevenson Won
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Nonverbal Behavior ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Social Closeness ◽  
Similar Information ◽  
Individual Measure ◽  
And Behavior

The ability to perceive emotional states is a critical part of social interactions, shaping how people understand and respond to each other. In face-to-face communication, people perceive others’ emotions through observing their appearance and behavior. In virtual reality, how appearance and behavior are rendered must be designed. In this study, we asked whether people conversing in immersive virtual reality (VR) would perceive emotion more accurately depending on whether they and their partner were represented by realistic or abstract avatars. In both cases, participants got similar information about the tracked movement of their partners’ heads and hands, though how this information was expressed varied. We collected participants’ self-reported emotional state ratings of themselves and their ratings of their conversational partners’ emotional states after a conversation in VR. Participants’ ratings of their partners’ emotional states correlated to their partners’ self-reported ratings regardless of which of the avatar conditions they experienced. We then explored how these states were reflected in their nonverbal behavior, using a dyadic measure of nonverbal behavior (proximity between conversational partners) and an individual measure (expansiveness of gesture). We discuss how this relates to measures of social presence and social closeness.

The Use of Avatars and Virtual Worlds for Learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 234-261
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Collaborative Virtual Environments

Virtual environments (VEs) can be immersive (IVE) or collaborative (CVE). Networked collaborative virtual environments (NCVEs) connect participants in real time via a network. Each type of VE presents opportunities to use different combinations of technologies to design engaging learning experiences, especially using avatars. Avatars are used as forms of self-representation for students as well as instructors. Anonymity enables users to alter their identities and interact in new ways through transformed social interactions. Advancements in technology continue to humanize avatars, thus changing their role in the VE and also changing the role of the instructor.

3D Avatars and Collaborative Virtual Environments

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Koon-Ying Raymond Li ◽  
James Sofra
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Collaborative Virtual Environments ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Collaborative Virtual Environment ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Collaborative Activities

With the exponential growth in desktop computing power and advancements in Web-based technologies over the past decade, the virtual community is now a reality. The latest derivative of the virtual community, made possible by 3D avatars, is called the collaborative virtual environment (CVE). These CVEs often provide “fantasy-themed online worlds” for participants to socially interact. Instead of placing emphasis on teamplaying, the sharing of information, and collaborative activities, a CVE focuses on social presence and communication processes. Unlike virtual environments which allow participants to discuss what is going on in the real world, the participants’ experiences of the virtual world provided by the CVE are often the main topics for discussion. These CVEs, just like their real counterparts, have their own issues and problems. This article will analyze the potential benefits of avatars, helping to build virtual communities and explore the possible issues that are associated with the CVE.

The Effect of Behavioral Realism and Form Realism of Real-Time Avatar Faces on Verbal Disclosure, Nonverbal Disclosure, Emotion Recognition, and Copresence in Dyadic Interaction

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy N Bailenson ◽  
Nick Yee ◽  
Dan Merget ◽  
Ralph Schroeder
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Face Tracking ◽  
Dyadic Interaction ◽  
Collaborative Virtual Environments ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
High Form ◽  
Tracking Technology

The realism of avatars in terms of behavior and form is critical to the development of collaborative virtual environments. In the study we utilized state of the art, real-time face tracking technology to track and render facial expressions unobtrusively in a desktop CVE. Participants in dyads interacted with each other via either a video-conference (high behavioral realism and high form realism), voice only (low behavioral realism and low form realism), or an “emotibox” that rendered the dimensions of facial expressions abstractly in terms of color, shape, and orientation on a rectangular polygon (high behavioral realism and low form realism). Verbal and non-verbal self-disclosure were lowest in the videoconference condition while self-reported copresence and success of transmission and identification of emotions were lowest in the emotibox condition. Previous work demonstrates that avatar realism increases copresence while decreasing self-disclosure. We discuss the possibility of a hybrid realism solution that maintains high copresence without lowering self-disclosure, and the benefits of such an avatar on applications such as distance learning and therapy.

The Effect of the Agency and Anthropomorphism on Users' Sense of Telepresence, Copresence, and Social Presence in Virtual Environments

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 481-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine L. Nowak ◽  
Frank Biocca
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Virtual Image ◽  
Computer Controlled ◽  
Set Up

We report on an experiment that examined the influence of anthropomorphism and perceived agency on presence, copresence, and social presence in a virtual environment. The experiment varied the level of anthropomorphism of the image of interactants: high anthropomorphism, low anthropomorphism, or no image. Perceived agency was manipulated by telling the participants that the image was either an avatar controlled by a human, or an agent controlled by a computer. The results support the prediction that people respond socially to both human and computer-controlled entities, and that the existence of a virtual image increases tele-presence. Participants interacting with the less-anthropomorphic image reported more copresence and social presence than those interacting with partners represented by either no image at all or by a highly anthropomorphic image of the other, indicating that the more anthropomorphic images set up higher expectations that lead to reduced presence when these expectations were not met.

3D Avatars and Collaborative Virtual Environments

2008 ◽  
pp. 602-609
Author(s):  
Koon-Ying Raymond Li ◽  
James Sofra ◽  
Mark Power
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Social Presence ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Collaborative Virtual Environments ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Collaborative Virtual Environment ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Collaborative Activities

With the exponential growth in desktop computing power and advancements in Web-based technologies over the past decade, the virtual community is now a reality. The latest derivative of the virtual community, made possible by 3D avatars, is called the collaborative virtual environment (CVE). These CVEs often provide “fantasy-themed online worlds” for participants to socially interact. Instead of placing emphasis on teamplaying, the sharing of information, and collaborative activities, a CVE focuses on social presence and communication processes. Unlike virtual environments which allow participants to discuss what is going on in the real world, the participants’ experiences of the virtual world provided by the CVE are often the main topics for discussion. These CVEs, just like their real counterparts, have their own issues and problems. This article will analyze the potential benefits of avatars, helping to build virtual communities and explore the possible issues that are associated with the CVE.

The Usability of Collaborative Virtual Environments and Methods for the Analysis of Interaction

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 655-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Schroeder ◽  
Ilona Heldal ◽  
Jolanda Tromp
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
The Other ◽  
Collaborative Virtual Environments ◽  
The Relationship

This paper describes two methods for analyzing interactions in collaborative virtual environments (CVEs): one whereby quantitative data are captured, interaction is categorized into a number of activities, and statistical analysis can be performed on frequencies and sequences of events. The other is based on the transcription of individual fragments of interaction, which are analyzed in terms of their key dynamics. The two methods each have their strengths and weaknesses, especially in terms of generalizability and the lessons we can derive from them. Both also point to different problems that need to be addressed in methods for analyzing interaction—such analysis being, in turn, a precondition for improving the usability of CVEs. The paper concludes with an argument for a combination of the two methods, and some reflections about the relationship between the analysis of interaction and the usability of CVEs.

A Longitudinal Study of Task Performance, Head Movements, Subjective Report, Simulator Sickness, and Transformed Social Interaction in Collaborative Virtual Environments

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 699-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy N Bailenson ◽  
Nick Yee
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Nonverbal Behavior ◽  
Simulator Sickness ◽  
Subjective Ratings ◽  
Collaborative Virtual Environments ◽  
Subjective Report ◽  
Facial Similarity ◽  
Over Time

Empirical research on human behavior in collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) is in its infancy. Historically, one of the more valuable tools social scientists have used to evaluate new forms of media is longitudinal studies that examine user behavior over an extended period of time. In the current study, three triads of participants came to the lab for 15 sessions over a ten week period to collaborate for approximately 45 minutes per session. We examined nonverbal behavior, task performance on verbal tasks, and subjective ratings of presence, copresence, simulator sickness, and entitativity over time. Furthermore, we examined two types of transformed social interaction: nonverbal mimicry and facial similarity. Results demonstrated substantial changes in task performance, subjective ratings, nonverbal behavior, and simulator sickness over time as participants became familiar with the system. Furthermore, transforming avatar appearance to increase facial similarity sometimes improved task performance. We discuss implications for research on CVEs.

LIRKIS Global Collaborative Virtual Environments: Current State and Utilization Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-106
Author(s):  
Marián Hudák ◽  
Štefan Korečko ◽  
Branislav Sobota
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Smart Devices ◽  
Collaborative Virtual Environments ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Smart Client ◽  
Input Devices ◽  
User Input ◽  
History Of ◽  
Shared Virtual Environments

AbstractRecent advances in the field of web technologies, including the increasing support of virtual reality hardware, have allowed for shared virtual environments, reachable by just entering a URL in a browser. One contemporary solution that provides such a shared virtual reality is LIRKIS Global Collaborative Virtual Environments (LIRKIS G-CVE). It is a web-based software system, built on top of the A-Frame and Networked-Aframe frameworks. This paper describes LIRKIS G-CVE and introduces its two original components. The first one is the Smart-Client Interface, which turns smart devices, such as smartphones and tablets, into input devices. The advantage of this component over the standard way of user input is demonstrated by a series of experiments. The second component is the Enhanced Client Access layer, which provides access to positions and orientations of clients that share a virtual environment. The layer also stores a history of connected clients and provides limited control over the clients. The paper also outlines an ongoing experiment aimed at an evaluation of LIRKIS G-CVE in the area of virtual prototype testing.

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