Playing the mirror game in virtual reality with an autonomous character
Abstract Perceptual-motor synchronisation in human groups is crucial in many activities, from musical ensembles to sports teams. To this aim, the mirror game, where partners are asked to imitate each other’s movements or gestures, is one of the best available experimental paradigms to study how huma...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25197-z |
| _version_ | 1811179189941829632 |
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| author | Joan Llobera Valentin Jacquat Carmela Calabrese Caecilia Charbonnier |
| author_facet | Joan Llobera Valentin Jacquat Carmela Calabrese Caecilia Charbonnier |
| author_sort | Joan Llobera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Perceptual-motor synchronisation in human groups is crucial in many activities, from musical ensembles to sports teams. To this aim, the mirror game, where partners are asked to imitate each other’s movements or gestures, is one of the best available experimental paradigms to study how humans engage in joint tasks and how they tend to synchronise their behaviour. However, to date, virtual reality characters do not engage in motor synchronisation with human users. In this work, we explored to what extent an autonomous virtual character and a human that play the mirror game in virtual reality can synchronise their behaviour. We created a full-body version of the mirror game with an autonomous virtual character, whose movements were driven by a model based on coupled oscillators. Participants engaged in a joint imitation task with a virtual player animated with one of three options: a model that included a small coupling, a model with no coupling, or another human. Behavioural measures and subjective reports suggest that participants were unable to distinguish the condition of small coupling from the engagement with an avatar driven by another human participant. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T06:30:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-87c011932d3946d5bab3dbfb768dbf5e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T06:30:46Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-87c011932d3946d5bab3dbfb768dbf5e2022-12-22T04:40:05ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-12-011211910.1038/s41598-022-25197-zPlaying the mirror game in virtual reality with an autonomous characterJoan Llobera0Valentin Jacquat1Carmela Calabrese2Caecilia Charbonnier3Artanim FoundationArtanim FoundationDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Naples Federico IIArtanim FoundationAbstract Perceptual-motor synchronisation in human groups is crucial in many activities, from musical ensembles to sports teams. To this aim, the mirror game, where partners are asked to imitate each other’s movements or gestures, is one of the best available experimental paradigms to study how humans engage in joint tasks and how they tend to synchronise their behaviour. However, to date, virtual reality characters do not engage in motor synchronisation with human users. In this work, we explored to what extent an autonomous virtual character and a human that play the mirror game in virtual reality can synchronise their behaviour. We created a full-body version of the mirror game with an autonomous virtual character, whose movements were driven by a model based on coupled oscillators. Participants engaged in a joint imitation task with a virtual player animated with one of three options: a model that included a small coupling, a model with no coupling, or another human. Behavioural measures and subjective reports suggest that participants were unable to distinguish the condition of small coupling from the engagement with an avatar driven by another human participant.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25197-z |
| spellingShingle | Joan Llobera Valentin Jacquat Carmela Calabrese Caecilia Charbonnier Playing the mirror game in virtual reality with an autonomous character Scientific Reports |
| title | Playing the mirror game in virtual reality with an autonomous character |
| title_full | Playing the mirror game in virtual reality with an autonomous character |
| title_fullStr | Playing the mirror game in virtual reality with an autonomous character |
| title_full_unstemmed | Playing the mirror game in virtual reality with an autonomous character |
| title_short | Playing the mirror game in virtual reality with an autonomous character |
| title_sort | playing the mirror game in virtual reality with an autonomous character |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25197-z |
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