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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.13265 |
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| _version_ | 1866913654355525632 |
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| author | Ma, Fang Zhang, Ju Tankelevitch, Lev Panda, Payod Asadi, Torang Hewitt, Charlie Petikam, Lohit Clemoes, James Gillies, Marco Pan, Xueni Rintel, Sean Wilczkowiak, Marta |
| author_facet | Ma, Fang Zhang, Ju Tankelevitch, Lev Panda, Payod Asadi, Torang Hewitt, Charlie Petikam, Lohit Clemoes, James Gillies, Marco Pan, Xueni Rintel, Sean Wilczkowiak, Marta |
| contents | Avatars are edging into mainstream videoconferencing, but evaluation of how avatar animation modalities contribute to work meeting outcomes has been limited. We report a within-group videoconferencing experiment in which 68 employees of a global technology company, in 16 groups, used the same stylized avatars in three modalities (static picture, audio-animation, and webcam-animation) to complete collaborative decision-making tasks. Quantitatively, for meeting outcomes, webcam-animated avatars improved meeting effectiveness over the picture modality and were also reported to be more comfortable and inclusive than both other modalities. In terms of avatar satisfaction, there was a similar preference for webcam animation as compared to both other modalities. Our qualitative analysis shows participants expressing a preference for the holistic motion of webcam animation, and that meaningful movement outweighs realism for meeting outcomes, as evidenced through a systematic overview of ten thematic factors. We discuss implications for research and commercial deployment and conclude that webcam-animated avatars are a plausible alternative to video in work meetings. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_13265 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Nods of Agreement: Webcam-Driven Avatars Improve Meeting Outcomes and Avatar Satisfaction Over Audio-Driven or Static Avatars in All-Avatar Work Videoconferencing Ma, Fang Zhang, Ju Tankelevitch, Lev Panda, Payod Asadi, Torang Hewitt, Charlie Petikam, Lohit Clemoes, James Gillies, Marco Pan, Xueni Rintel, Sean Wilczkowiak, Marta Human-Computer Interaction Avatars are edging into mainstream videoconferencing, but evaluation of how avatar animation modalities contribute to work meeting outcomes has been limited. We report a within-group videoconferencing experiment in which 68 employees of a global technology company, in 16 groups, used the same stylized avatars in three modalities (static picture, audio-animation, and webcam-animation) to complete collaborative decision-making tasks. Quantitatively, for meeting outcomes, webcam-animated avatars improved meeting effectiveness over the picture modality and were also reported to be more comfortable and inclusive than both other modalities. In terms of avatar satisfaction, there was a similar preference for webcam animation as compared to both other modalities. Our qualitative analysis shows participants expressing a preference for the holistic motion of webcam animation, and that meaningful movement outweighs realism for meeting outcomes, as evidenced through a systematic overview of ten thematic factors. We discuss implications for research and commercial deployment and conclude that webcam-animated avatars are a plausible alternative to video in work meetings. |
| title | Nods of Agreement: Webcam-Driven Avatars Improve Meeting Outcomes and Avatar Satisfaction Over Audio-Driven or Static Avatars in All-Avatar Work Videoconferencing |
| topic | Human-Computer Interaction |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.13265 |