Videoconference and Embodied VR: Communication Patterns Across Task and Medium

Videoconference has become the dominant technology for remote meetings. Embodied Virtual Reality is a potential alternative that employs motion tracking in order to place people shared virtual environment as avatars. This paper describes 210 participant study focused on behavioral measures compares multiparty interaction videoconference and embodied VR across range of task types: factual intellective task, subjective judgment two negotiation tasks, one with visual grounding. It uses state-of-the-art body, face finger drive avatars carefully matched videoconferencing implementation. Significant differences are observed. These include increased activity related maintaining social connection: more person directed gaze verbal nonverbal backchannel behavior. also had reduced conversational overlap, self-adaptor gestures deictic compared VR. Potential explanations implications discussed.