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Gaze leading is associated with liking.
Ouriel Grynszpan1, Jean-Claude Martin2, Philippe Fossati3
1Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique (ISIR), Université Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, Paris, France.
Acta Psychologica
|December 26, 2016
Summary
Gaze following by avatars increased user liking, regardless of the avatar's initial appeal. This suggests that mutual gaze can enhance social connection and positive perceptions in human-computer interaction.
Area of Science:
- Human-computer interaction
- Social psychology
- Communication studies
Background:
- Gaze is crucial for human communication, particularly in coordinating attention and establishing joint attention.
- Prior research suggests that gaze-following behaviors may enhance interpersonal liking.
- The potential for gaze-following to induce positive social perceptions warrants further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether human avatars following user gaze can increase user-perceived liking.
- To determine if gaze-following fosters positive social attributes like pleasantness, trustworthiness, and closeness.
- To examine if this effect is independent of the avatar's baseline physical appeal.
Main Methods:
- Two physically distinct human avatars were designed with eye-tracking capabilities.
- A preliminary experiment assessed participants' baseline appeal ratings for the avatars.
- The main experiment compared user ratings of avatar pleasantness, trustworthiness, and closeness when avatars engaged in gaze-following versus autonomous gaze movements.
Main Results:
- While one avatar was rated more favorably overall, both avatars were perceived as more pleasant when they followed user gaze.
- The increase in pleasantness attributed to the avatars was observed regardless of their initial baseline appeal.
- Gaze-following behavior significantly enhanced positive perceptions of the avatars.
Conclusions:
- Gaze-following behavior by avatars demonstrably fosters increased liking and positive social perceptions.
- This effect of gaze-following on liking is independent of the inherent appeal of the individual avatar.
- Findings support the hypothesis that mutual gaze can enhance social bonding and positive affect in human-avatar interactions.
Keywords:
AvatarChameleon effectEye-trackingGaze-contingent displayJoint attentionSocial interactionsMore Related Videos
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