Cooperation and Language in Virtual Reality Gaming
The objective of our research is to understand the alignment of gesture, intonation, and object presentation in virtual environments, and to see whether increasing the “realness” in the game through multisensory enhancement leads to expanded pitch range and intonational contours. We additionally seek to test whether the responses vary by age groups and gender.
Our Team
Lead Researcher:
Dr. Norma Mendoza-Denton
Research Assistants:
Zia Khohssirat
Xiaoxuan Wang
Natalia Casio-Lara
Jester Mediano
Project
​As far back as the early 2000s, Blascovich and Bailenson explored the phenomenon of the blurring of people’s perception of their physical boundaries when exposed to virtual reality environments, specifically a simulated “pit” (Blasovich and Bailenson 2011:80) that evolved into the commercially-available game Richie's Plank Experience (Toast VR 2022[2019]) — hereafter RPE. In this game, as soon as players don their VR headset, they get some warnings about being careful in their movements, after which they find themselves on the ground floor of a cityscape with an elevator awaiting them. When they enter the elevator, they press the elevator button and ascend in the elevator, complete with elevator music, emerging in front of a virtual two-meter plank that juts out from a skyscraper at a considerable height. Many participants experience exhilaration, sweating, and some actually swear while attempting this task due to our inborn aversion to 'visual cliffs' (Gibson and Walk 1960).
​For this research study we have designed an interaction in collaborative Mixed Reality (a combination of virtual reality and physical reality) which combines a participant (player one) virtually immersed as an avatar in RPE interacting with a physical spotter (player two). This arrangement is ecologically valid, as the instructions in RPE suggest a spotter as well. Pairs of players who alternate in the avatar and spotter roles are recruited as pairs of real-life friends (who would not mind catching each other) and who have not had any exposure to the game.
​For this research study we have designed an interaction in collaborative Mixed Reality (a combination of virtual reality and physical reality) which combines a participant (player one) virtually immersed as an avatar in RPE interacting with a physical spotter (player two). This arrangement is ecologically valid, as the instructions in RPE suggest a spotter as well. Pairs of players who alternate in the avatar and spotter roles are recruited as pairs of real-life friends (who would not mind catching each other) and who have not had any exposure to the game.