Tokyo City University, TIS Co., Ltd., Okayama University of Science, and Kogakuin University examined and considered the impact of communication tools on self-disclosure, and revealed that VR avatars encourage self-disclosure rather than video chat. ..
Self-disclosure that conveys oneself as it is is important for building and maintaining intimate interpersonal relationships.On the other hand, online communication tools are attracting attention from the viewpoint of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and new coronavirus infections (COVID-19).It is said that self-disclosure is promoted when there are few social clues such as appearance and behavior (line of sight, facial expression, gesture, etc.) conveyed by the communication tool.
This time, 20 pairs (59 people) of men and women aged 54 to 108 years old who were recruited to the general public, "Video chat", "VR avatar that looks like the user", "Appearance does not look like the user" Using the three communication tools of "VR Avatar", evaluate the degree of self-disclosure and the amount of rhetorical features of the user's utterance.As a result, it was found that users disclose themselves through VR avatars rather than video chat.
In addition, users disclosed themselves more through VR avatars than through video, but did not notice any difference in their perceptions.This means that through VR avatars, users can disclose themselves without being particularly aware of it, suggesting the usefulness of VR avatars in situations where they want to understand a person's candid thoughts and emotions. do.
The results of this research are expected to be useful in designing new VR social applications such as counseling, 1on1 meetings, and matching.
