Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : May 29, 2024 - June 01, 2024
In online communication such as meetings and classes, many participants can connect anywhere,and any number of people can participate. Although online communication is highly convenient, it is difficult to share a sense of unity and interactive atmosphere because the monitor is perceived as a spatial boundary. In face-to-face communication, nonverbal behaviors such as facial expressions and gestures play an important role in sharing a sense of unity and interactive atmosphere. To improve a sense of unity in remote communication, many avatar robots that represent nonverbal behaviors of remote user have been developed. However, there is no approach in creating interactive atmosphere such as activated communication through nonverbal behavior using multiple avatar robots, because the previous research has assumed a scene where the user and the avatar robot faced each other one-on-one. In this study, for the basic research in realizing smooth communication between human and avatar robots, we focused on the number of participants in remote communication and analyzed the degree of activated communication during free conversation. The results demonstrated that group of 3 was most activated in online communication.
