Dynamics of Remote Communication: Movement Coordination in Video-Mediated and Face-to-Face Conversations

Abstract

The present pandemic forced our daily interactions to move into the virtual world. People had to adapt to new communication media that afford different ways of interaction. Remote communication decreases the availability and salience of some cues but also may enable and highlight others. Importantly, basic movement dynamics, which are crucial for any interaction as they are responsible for the informational and affective coupling, are affected. It is therefore essential to discover exactly how these dynamics change. In this exploratory study of six interacting dyads we use traditional variability measures and cross recurrence quantification analysis to compare the movement coordination dynamics in quasi-natural dialogues in four situations: (1) remote video-mediated conversations with a self-view mirror image present, (2) remote video-mediated conversations without a self-view, (3) face-to-face conversations with a self-view, and (4) face-to-face conversations without a self-view. We discovered that in remote interactions movements pertaining to communicative gestures were exaggerated, while the stability of interpersonal coordination was greatly decreased. The presence of the self-view image made the gestures less exaggerated, but did not affect the coordination. The dynamical analyses are helpful in understanding the interaction processes and may be useful in explaining phenomena connected with video-mediated communication, such as “Zoom fatigue”.

Making “fast friends” online in middle childhood and early adolescence

“…The Zoom platform also contains components that can distract people and make it difficult to focus on interactions with others (e.g., the ability to see one's own actions on video, the presentation of multiple options for settings ;Zubek et al, 2022). Therefore, it will be important to test if an online version of the Fast Friends paradigm is effective at engendering closeness in late childhood and early adolescence.…”

“…Despite potential advantages to an online Fast Friends procedure, there are also potential challenges. Online interactions do not allow people to engage in components of in‐person interactions that facilitate closeness and affiliation, such as eye contact and coordinated movement (Tunçgenç & Cohen, 2018; Zubek et al., 2022). Additionally, when communicating on online platforms, such as Zoom, individuals often experience delays that can disrupt the rhythm of conversation and lead to misunderstandings of what the pauses mean (Boland et al., 2022; Zubek et al., 2022).…”

“…Online interactions do not allow people to engage in components of in‐person interactions that facilitate closeness and affiliation, such as eye contact and coordinated movement (Tunçgenç & Cohen, 2018; Zubek et al., 2022). Additionally, when communicating on online platforms, such as Zoom, individuals often experience delays that can disrupt the rhythm of conversation and lead to misunderstandings of what the pauses mean (Boland et al., 2022; Zubek et al., 2022). The Zoom platform also contains components that can distract people and make it difficult to focus on interactions with others (e.g., the ability to see one's own actions on video, the presentation of multiple options for settings; Zubek et al., 2022).…”

“…Additionally, when communicating on online platforms, such as Zoom, individuals often experience delays that can disrupt the rhythm of conversation and lead to misunderstandings of what the pauses mean (Boland et al., 2022; Zubek et al., 2022). The Zoom platform also contains components that can distract people and make it difficult to focus on interactions with others (e.g., the ability to see one's own actions on video, the presentation of multiple options for settings; Zubek et al., 2022). Therefore, it will be important to test if an online version of the Fast Friends paradigm is effective at engendering closeness in late childhood and early adolescence.…”

Complexity Science in Human Change: Research, Models, Clinical Applications

“…In the fifth contribution, Zubek et al [ 5 ] reflected on the pandemic that forced our daily interactions to move into the virtual world. People had to adapt to new commu-nication media that afford different ways of interaction.…”