A framework for interactivity and presence in novel bodies

Researchers are beginning to explore the consequences of interacting with virtual worlds using non-human bodies. As virtual environments become more advanced, it is possible for participants to interact with their environments in increasingly sophisticated ways. Using trackers, users can control multiple avatar limbs in order to manipulate objects, move through space, and otherwise act in the virtual world. However, these avatar bodies need not conform to the normal human configuration, either in their appearance or in the way the tracked movements of the user are rendered to control the movements of the avatar. In this chapter we use the framework developed by Haans and IJsselsteijn to investigate the experience of self-presence in cases of nonhuman avatars or avatars that otherwise differ in ability or control schema from the user’s own body; for example, avatars with more than two arms. We focus on cases where participants inhabit avatars in which the veridical mapping between tracking and rendering is disrupted

A Turing-Like Handshake Test for Motor Intelligence

Abstract. In the Turing test, a computer model is deemed to “think intelligently ” if it can generate answers that are not distinguishable from those of a human. This test is limited to the linguistic aspects of machine intelligence. A salient function of the brain is the control of movement, with the human hand movement being a sophisticated demonstration of this function. Therefore, we propose a Turing-like handshake test, for machine motor intelligence. We administer the test through a telerobotic system in which the interrogator is engaged in a task of holding a robotic stylus and interacting with another party (human, artificial, or a linear combination of the two). Instead of asking the interrogator whether the other party is a person or a computer program, we employ a forced-choice method and ask which of two systems is more humanlike. By comparing a given model with a weighted sum of human and artificial systems, we fit a psychometric curve to the answers of the interrogator and extract a quantitative measure for the computer model in terms of similarity to the human handshake

How Our Personality Shapes Our Interactions with Virtual Characters - Implications for Research and Development

Abstract. There is a general lack of awareness for the influence of users´ personality traits on human-agent-interaction (HAI). Numerous studies do not even consider explanatory variables like age and gender although they are easily accessible. The present study focuses on explaining the occurrence of social effects in HAI. Apart from the original manipulation of the study we assessed the users ́personality traits. Results show that participants ´ personality traits influenced their subjective feeling after the interaction, as well as their evaluation of the virtual character and their actual behavior. From the various personality traits those traits which relate to persistent behavioral patterns in social contact (agreeableness, extraversion, approach avoidance, self-efficacy in monitoring others, shyness, public self-consciousness) were found to be predictive, whereas other personality traits and gender and age did not affect the evaluation. Results suggest that personality traits are better predictors for the evaluation outcome than the actual behavior of the agent as it has been manipulated in the experiment. Implications for research on and development of virtual agents are discussed

Intimate heartbeats : opportunities for affective communication technology

Despite a variety of new communication technologies, loneliness is prevalent in Western countries. Boosting emotional communication through intimate connections has the potential to reduce loneliness. New technologies might exploit biosignals as intimate emotional cues because of their strong relationship to emotions. Through two studies, we investigate the possibilities of heartbeat communication as an intimate cue. In the first study (N = 32), we demonstrated, using self-report and behavioral tracking in an immersive virtual environment, that heartbeat perception influences social behavior in a similar manner as traditional intimate signals like gaze and interpersonal distance. In a second study (N = 34), we demonstrated that a sound of the heartbeat is not sufficient to cause the effect; the stimulus must be attributed to the conversational partner in order to have influence. Together, these results show that heartbeat communication is a promising way to increase intimacy. Implications and possibilities for applications are discussed

Effects of facial similarity on user responses to embodied agents

We investigated the effects of facial similarity between users and embodied agents under different experimental conditions. Sixty-four undergraduates interacted with two different embodied agents: in one case the agent was designed to look somewhat similar to the user, and in the other case the agent was designed to look dissimilar. We varied between subjects how helpful the agent was for a given task. Results showed that the facial similarity manipulation sometimes affected participants' responses, even though they did not consciously detect the similarity. Specifically, when the agent was helpful, facial similarity increased participantsi ratings of involvement. However, when exposed to unhelpful agents, male participants had negative responses to the similar-looking agent compared to the dissimilar one. These results suggest that using facially similar embodied agents has a potential large downside if that embodied agent is perceived to be unhelpful. © 2010 ACM