Leading and following with a virtual trainer

Abstract

Reidsma D, Dehling E, van Welbergen H, Zwiers J, Nijholt A. Leading and following with a virtual trainer. In: England D, Rhalibi AE, Cheok AD, eds. Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Whole Body Interaction in Games and Entertainment. Liverpool, UK: University of Liverpool; 2011.This paper describes experiments with a virtual fitness trainer capable of mutually coordinated interaction. The virtual human co-exercises along with the user, leading as well as following in tempo, to motivate the user and to influence the speed with which the user performs the exercises. In a series of three experiments (20 participants in total) we attempted to influence the users' performance by manipulating the (timing of the) exercise behavior of the virtual trainer. The results show that it is possible to do this implicitly, using only micro adjustments to its bodily behavior. As such, the system is a rst step in the direction of mutually coordinated bodily interaction for virtual humans