Conference article

Substitutional reality (SR) technology blurs the boundary between the real and the virtual by unnoticeably substituting past images for live images. In this study, we further investigated such factors, and conducted experiments to verify whether they were indeed effective factors in SR. In the verification experiments, the subject was presented with an image in which two persons appear, wearing head-mounted displays (HMDs) and are photographed in advance; after which it was explained that one person was in a live image and the other in a past image, and the subject was asked which one the live image was. In the case where the psychological / social distance was reduced by performing cooperative action to imitate the action of the opponent, when the line of sight matches with that of only one person; and in the case of two patterns, when one person goes in and out of the personal space and does not shake or wave their hand; these three factors were verified. In the comparative experiment, the same past / live image content as in the verification experiment was employed. The results suggested that it is ineffective to conduct cooperative actions to reduce the psychological and social distance, and to enter and exit the personal space without waving. And further, it is effective when the gaze matches and when the personal space is entered / left with a hand wave. In sum, it was found that SR reality can be enhanced by adding communication.

Substitutional reality, virtual reality, head mounted display, communication