Measuring Interpersonal Trust towards Virtual Humans with a Virtual Maze Paradigm

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Virtual Reality Studies
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Virtual humans (agents, avatars) are increasingly integral to advancing VR technologies.
• Interpersonal trust is crucial for real-world and virtual interactions.
• Existing tools for measuring interpersonal trust are not specific to virtual humans in VR.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a novel behavioral tool for measuring interpersonal trust towards virtual humans in social VR.
• To address the gap in specialized trust measurement for virtual human interactions.

Main Methods:

• A validated paradigm, adapted from a virtual maze task, was implemented.
• Participants (trustors) navigated a VR maze, interacting with a virtual human (trustee) by asking for and following advice.
• A between-subject design with 70 participants manipulated the trustworthiness of the virtual human (appearance, voice, engagement).

Main Results:

• The experimental manipulation successfully influenced participants' perception of virtual human trustworthiness.
• Participants in the trustworthy condition asked for and followed advice more frequently than in the untrustworthy condition.
• The paradigm demonstrated sensitivity in assessing interpersonal trust towards virtual humans.

Conclusions:

• The novel behavioral paradigm is a validated tool for measuring interpersonal trust in social VR.
• This research tool can differentiate trust levels towards virtual humans.
• The paradigm offers a valuable method for studying trust dynamics in virtual reality environments.