Remotely seeing is believing: how trust in cyber-physical systems evolves through virtual observation
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 31, 2026

Online Virtual Reality Networked Control Laboratory Applied in Control Engineering Education
Published on: February 23, 2024
Zhi Jin1, Kurt Xiao1, David Hyde1
1Institute for Convergent Software Integrated Systems, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
Abstract:
We study how passive virtual observation of cyber-physical systems (CPS) can affect human trust in those systems. We perform this study via a newly developed novel web application that enables researchers to show pre-recorded or live video feeds to groups of users in a synchronized fashion. Users are able to provide real-time feedback on these videos via affect buttons and a free-form chat interface. We evaluate our application via a quantitative user study ( ) involving videos of CPS, such as autonomous vehicles (AVs), performing positively or negatively. Using data collected from user responses in the application, as well as customized survey instruments assessing different facets of trust, we find that human trust in CPS can be affected by remotely observing the behaviour of such systems-without ever encountering them in person.
Related Concept Videos
Principle of Virtual Work: Problem Solving
To apply the principle of virtual work,...
Virtual Work for a System of Connected Rigid Bodies
Next,...
Virtual Work
In static equilibrium, a body can experience an imaginary or virtual movement, such as displacement or rotation. The virtual work done by a force is equal to the dot product of force and virtual displacement in the direction of the force. When it comes to virtually rotating a...
Observational Learning
Social Foundations of Self IV: Self in Digital Communication
Naturalistic Observations

