VR Social Interactions

Real-time face-to-face social conversation involves complex coordination of nonverbal cues such as head movement (nodding), gaze (i.e. eye contact), facial expressions and gestures. In this research, I am investigating how coordination in such subtle nonverbal communication can have effects over closeness and trust. Virtual Reality (VR) provides a high level of social presence with conversation patterns that are similar to face-to-face interaction. We employ VR to understand how coordination influences social bonding and perceived similarities in personality.