Dyadic interactions with avatars in immersive virtual environments: high fiving

Collaborative immersive virtual environments allow the behavior of one user to be observed by other users. In particular, behavior of users in such an environment is represented by each user possessing a self-avatar, a digital representation of themself. In this study we examined dyadic interactions in a collaborative immersive virtual environment when both users were present in the same physical space. This collocation in physical space allows for physical interaction between users as well as virtual interaction. In the context of a common physical gesture, high fiving, we examined the question of whether the form of the self-avatar was important, and whether collocation in the physical world provided benefits or not. We find that the form of the avatar is important but that physical collocation is not. These results reinforce the growing body of evidence that indicates that having a full-body avatar in a virtual environment provides benefits, and these results are significant because they demonstrate this in the context of a dyadic interaction.