2008 年 10 巻 1 号 p. 103-112
It is difficult for a lecturer to interact with audiences during presentations, unlike face-to-face communication. In human face-to-face communication, not only the verbal message but also the nonverbal behavior such as nodding and body motions is rhythmically related and mutually synchronized between speakers. It is desirable for people to be able to share embodied rhythms resulting from the entrainment between human speech and nonverbal actions and motions during communication. In this pa-per, a new speech-driven embodied entrainment device "InterVibrator" is proposed for supporting embodied interaction and communication during presentations. InterVibrator is a vibration device with a vibratory response equivalent to the nodding response and its response time to the speech input is similar to that of a listener. It is expected to support interactive communication by synchronizing the embodied rhythms using a vibratory response. Two kinds of InterVibrators having different shapes are developed for lecturers and audiences. The effectiveness of the device is confirmed by a sensory evaluation experiment in an actual presentation.