% Encoding: UTF-8 @COMMENT{BibTeX export based on data in FAU CRIS: https://cris.fau.de/} @COMMENT{For any questions please write to cris-support@fau.de} @inproceedings{faucris.202457309, abstract = {
This paper presents a novel approach for the augmentation of so- cial behaviors in virtual reality (VR). We designed three visual transformations for behavioral phenomena crucial to everyday so- cial interactions: eye contact, joint attention, and grouping. To evaluate the approach, we let users interact socially in a virtual mu- seum using a large-scale multi-user tracking environment. Using a between-subject design (N = 125) we formed groups of five par- ticipants. Participants were represented as simplified avatars and experienced the virtual museum simultaneously, either with or with- out the augmentations. Our results indicate that our approach can significantly increase social presence in multi-user environments and that the augmented experience appears more thought-provoking. Furthermore, the augmentations seem also to affect the actual behav- ior of participants with regard to more eye contact and more focus on avatars/objects in the scene. We interpret these findings as first indicators for the potential of social augmentations to impact social perception and behavior in VR.