Effect of Bodily Gestures on Engagement within a VR Classroom Experience
Disciplines
Other Computer Sciences | Software Engineering
Abstract (300 words maximum)
As immersive technology continues to advance, immersive learning through Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as an effective tool to enhance the online learning experience by providing high immersion and rich interactivity. However, creating a motivational online learning experience and maintaining the learner's optimal cognitive efficacy in the immersive learning platform remains challenging. The main goal of this study is to address to what extent body gestures on virtual avatars affect the user experience within the VR classroom environment. To investigate the group of avatar impact, we developed a VR classroom system based on our prototyped system in the Immersive Empathic Interface (IEI) lab. Based on the system, we designed the number of emotional body gestures in a classroom context, using our off-the-shelf software such as Realusion, Autodesk Maya, and Unity Game Engine. The classroom is populated with 45 NPC avatars, who are programmed to perform specific body gestures based on specific conditions. After finishing the design and development, we collected 30 student volunteers to give mock presentations to the NPC students. In this context, our system modulates the group of virtual classmates’ behavior from negative to positive continuum. We collected the participant’s tracked behavior (eye gaze, head movement, hand, and body movement), physiological signals (heart rate and galvanic skin response), and subjective responses using a pre-validated questionnaire to compare our designs to their interpretations. According to our pre-questionnaire data, students are confident in judging the emotional state of avatars, however as the gestures became less aroused, the interpretations varied more from our original interpretations. During presentations, students appeared consistently confident in their interpretations, and were able to confidently proceed in their speeches. Observing these behaviors will be crucial to creating a virtual classroom environment that implements features shown to be effective in making the online classroom environment more engaging.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CCSE - Software Engineering and Game Development
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Sungchul Jung
Effect of Bodily Gestures on Engagement within a VR Classroom Experience
As immersive technology continues to advance, immersive learning through Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as an effective tool to enhance the online learning experience by providing high immersion and rich interactivity. However, creating a motivational online learning experience and maintaining the learner's optimal cognitive efficacy in the immersive learning platform remains challenging. The main goal of this study is to address to what extent body gestures on virtual avatars affect the user experience within the VR classroom environment. To investigate the group of avatar impact, we developed a VR classroom system based on our prototyped system in the Immersive Empathic Interface (IEI) lab. Based on the system, we designed the number of emotional body gestures in a classroom context, using our off-the-shelf software such as Realusion, Autodesk Maya, and Unity Game Engine. The classroom is populated with 45 NPC avatars, who are programmed to perform specific body gestures based on specific conditions. After finishing the design and development, we collected 30 student volunteers to give mock presentations to the NPC students. In this context, our system modulates the group of virtual classmates’ behavior from negative to positive continuum. We collected the participant’s tracked behavior (eye gaze, head movement, hand, and body movement), physiological signals (heart rate and galvanic skin response), and subjective responses using a pre-validated questionnaire to compare our designs to their interpretations. According to our pre-questionnaire data, students are confident in judging the emotional state of avatars, however as the gestures became less aroused, the interpretations varied more from our original interpretations. During presentations, students appeared consistently confident in their interpretations, and were able to confidently proceed in their speeches. Observing these behaviors will be crucial to creating a virtual classroom environment that implements features shown to be effective in making the online classroom environment more engaging.