SYDNEY, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have suggested that harnessing motion capture to enhance social interaction in VR (Virtual Reality) shows mostly similar to face-to-face interaction, contributing to the evaluation of communication technology.
The study, conducted by Edith Cowan University (ECU) and published in the Frontiers in Virtual Reality, was released to the public on Wednesday. It found that there are no significant differences between social interactions in VR and face-to-face, and 30 percent of participants prefer to talk about negative experiences with a virtual reality avatar.
The study contrasted 52 under-graduated participants' experiences of social interaction in VR with face-to-face interaction across two social contexts-getting acquainted with the conversation, and in a semi-structured interview where the participant discloses positive and negative personal experiences.
While VR technology has been around for some time, researchers added full face and body motion capture technology to the research to create a "realistic motion avatar" that closely mimicked their real-life counterpart, then analyzed how people interacted with avatars compared to people.
Psychology and communication researcher Shane Rogers said participants rated their experience on factors such as enjoyment, perceived understanding, comfort, awkwardness and extent that they felt they disclosed information about themselves.
"Overall people rated VR social interaction as similar to face-to-face interaction, with the exception of closeness, where people tended to feel a little closer with each other when face-to-face," Rogers said.
Additionally, some participants reported a preference for interaction in VR, particularly for the context that involved disclosure of negative experiences.
"This means that therapy might be opened up to new people who don't feel comfortable with traditional face-to-face interactions," he said.
"It might also enable therapists to conduct therapy more effectively at a distance, as a person can be in the therapist room (in virtual reality) while seated in their own home," he said.
Researchers anticipate that VR social interaction is poised to become the next major technological evolution for human computer-mediated communication and suggest avenues for further research. Enditem