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Study Reveals Gaze Sequence Crucial to Signaling Requests in Human and Robot Interactions

The published findings have set the stage for HAVIC Lab’s next phase of research into how gaze timing variations shape interaction with robotic or virtual partners

The authors say the research can directly inform how we build social robots and virtual assistants that are becoming ever more ubiquitous in our schools, workplaces and homes, while also having broader implications beyond tech.Credit: Neuroscience News
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Overview

  • Caruana’s study, published in Royal Society Open Science, confirms that the timing of eye contact within a gaze sequence determines whether observers perceive a call for help
  • In a block-building task involving 137 participants and a virtual partner, the sequence of looking at an object, making eye contact and returning gaze to the object proved most effective at signaling a request
  • Participants interpreted identical gaze patterns from human avatars and robots in the same way, highlighting equivalent processing of nonverbal cues across agent types
  • Insights from the research offer a framework for designing social robots, virtual avatars and communication-training programs that leverage intuitive gaze patterns
  • HAVIC Lab will now explore additional factors—such as gaze duration, repeated looks and beliefs about agent identity—to deepen understanding of eye-contact communication