Can virtual humans be more engaging than real ones?

  • Authors:

  • Jonathan Gratch;Ning Wang;Anna Okhmatovskaia;Francois Lamothe;Mathieu Morales;R. J. Van Der Werf;Louis-Philippe Morency

  • Affiliations:

  • University of Southern California;University of Southern California;McGill University;Ecole Spéciale Militaire de St-Cyr;Ecole Spéciale Militaire de St-Cyr;University of Twente;Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Venue:
  • HCI'07 Proceedings of the 12th international conference on Human-computer interaction: intelligent multimodal interaction environments
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

Emotional bonds don't arise from a simple exchange of facial displays, but often emerge through the dynamic give and take of face-to-face interactions. This article explores the phenomenon of rapport, a feeling of connectedness that seems to arise from rapid and contingent positive feedback between partners and is often associated with socio-emotional processes. Rapport has been argued to lead to communicative efficiency, better learning outcomes, improved acceptance of medical advice and successful negotiations. We provide experimental evidence that a simple virtual character that provides positive listening feedback can induce stronger rapport-like effects than face-to-face communication between human partners. Specifically, this interaction can be more engaging to storytellers than speaking to a human audience, as measured by the length and content of their stories.