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Published on: March 1, 2017
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Human agency beliefs influence behaviour during virtual social interactions
Nathan Caruana1,2,3,4, Dean Spirou5, Jon Brock3,4,5
1Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Peerj
|September 27, 2017
Summary
Believing a virtual partner is human, not computer-controlled, significantly alters user behavior and interaction dynamics in virtual reality joint attention games.
Area of Science:
- Virtual Reality (VR)
- Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Virtual reality enables realistic human-to-human interaction simulations.
- Neuroimaging shows distinct brain activity when users believe they interact with a human versus a computer agent.
- Users may adopt an 'intentional stance,' attributing mental states to virtual partners.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how beliefs in a virtual partner's agency influence user behavior and subjective experience.
- To examine the impact of perceived agency on cooperative joint attention tasks in VR.
Main Methods:
- Participants played a cooperative joint attention game using an eye tracker with a virtual partner.
- Two conditions: 'Computer' (partner correctly identified as algorithm-controlled) and 'Human' (partner falsely believed to be human-controlled).
Main Results:
- Participants in the 'Human' condition were slower to establish mutual eye contact and more prone to prematurely guiding their partner.
- Faster response times were observed when the virtual partner initiated guidance in the 'Human' condition, though also present with a control cue.
Conclusions:
- Beliefs about the agency of virtual partners significantly impact user behavior and interaction patterns in virtual environments.
- Researchers and developers must consider the influence of agency beliefs on user experience and goal achievement in simulated social interactions.
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