GrooVR: an open access virtual reality drumming application to improve pro-sociality using synchronous movement

Area of Science:

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

Background:

• Interpersonal synchrony enhances social bonding, cooperation, and reduces out-group bias.
• Practical challenges exist in studying social synchrony.
• Virtual reality (VR) offers a potential solution for controlled synchrony research.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce and evaluate a customizable VR application for studying interpersonal synchrony.
• Investigate the effects of synchronous drumming on affiliation and pro-social behavior.
• Examine the impact of virtual synchrony on intergroup relations and prejudice.

Main Methods:

• Developed a customizable VR application for synchronous and asynchronous drumming tasks.
• Experiment 1: Participants (N=?) drummed in sync/out of sync with same-demographic virtual partners.
• Experiment 2: Caucasian participants drummed with Middle Eastern avatars in a synchronous task.

Main Results:

• Synchronous drumming increased affiliation in Experiment 1, but did not affect pro-social behavior.
• Synchronous drumming with out-group avatars significantly increased trust and affiliation.
• Prejudicial attitudes toward Middle Eastern refugees were reduced by synchronous drumming.

Conclusions:

• Virtual synchrony, facilitated by VR, can effectively enhance social bonding and affiliation.
• VR-based interpersonal synchrony shows promise in reducing intergroup prejudice.
• The developed VR application provides a valuable tool for social synchrony research and intervention.