The role of eye gaze in virtual characters on their perceived believability, social presence and the application of Theory of Mind

Master thesis (2019)

Authors

Z. Garama Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Contributors

W.P. Brinkman Interactive Intelligence - EEMCS (supervisor 1)
D. Ding Interactive Intelligence - EEMCS (supervisor 2)
M.A. Neerincx Interactive Intelligence - EEMCS (supervisor 2)
K.A. Hildebrandt Computer Graphics and Visualisation - EEMCS (supervisor 2)
Faculty
Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Copyright: © 2019 Zilla Garama
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

18-11-2019

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Abstract

Making virtual characters seem sentient is the main goal of the study of believable virtual characters. Unbelievable behaviour, especially eye gaze behaviour, could make the whole virtual character seem less believable. In human-human social interactions eye gaze is used to interact non-verbally. People also apply Theory of Mind (ToM) to reason about other people's mental states. If a virtual character were to respond to a person's gazing behaviour with its own gazing behaviour, will it seem more believable and socially present to this person? Do people look at- and follow the gaze of such virtual characters more? Do people apply ToM to reason about the mental states of such virtual characters? This study employed a within-subject design (n=24) with two conditions that were given at the same moment. The conditions were represented by two virtual characters where one had gaze aware behaviour and the other did not. Using a think-aloud procedure during and questionnaires after the Virtual Reality experience the believability, social presence and the application of ToM were assessed. Gaze behaviour with respect to the virtual characters was assessed as well using the onboard eye-tracker of the Virtual Reality Head Mounted Display. The results suggest that virtual characters were more believable and socially present when they respond to people's gaze behaviour through their own gaze behaviour compared to a virtual character without such gaze behaviour. Results also showed that in some situations people looked more at the virtual character without gaze aware behaviour than at the virtual character with such behaviour. However, gaze following behaviour and whether or not people apply ToM were inconclusive. In conclusion, virtual characters that respond to people's gaze behaviour through their own gaze behaviour are perceived as more believable and more socially present than virtual characters without such gaze aware behaviour.