Telepresence in Videocommunications: A Study on Stereoscopy and Individual Eye Contact

Abstract

We conducted two experiments to investigate how stereoscopy and technologies that allow individual eye contact affect the impression of telepresence in video-conferencing. Telepresence is defined as the degree to which participants of a telemeeting get the impression of sharing space with the remote site. Results revealed, among other things, that stereoscopy increases telepresence and makes videoconferencing more attractive. In addition, we found that reduced eye contact angles enhance the recognizability of individually addressed nonverbal signals. However, a setup that eliminates horizontal and vertical eye contact angles seems to be advantageous only in conferences with more than two persons per site.

Encumbrance-free telepresence system with real-time 3D capture and display using commodity depth cameras

“…Overview As mentioned, research [18] has shown that stereo displays can increase the sense of shared presence, although systems requiring 3D glasses obstruct eye contract and have been found to be disruptive to most users. Therefore, we want an autostereo display for our system.…”

“…This grants users the ability to see around obstructions and gain more information about the remote scene. Gaze is preserved, allowing participants to make eye contact; research [18] has shown the absence of correct gaze can cause a loss of nonverbal communication. Stereo views are provided, which have been shown to increase the sense of shared presence [18].…”

“…Gaze is preserved, allowing participants to make eye contact; research [18] has shown the absence of correct gaze can cause a loss of nonverbal communication. Stereo views are provided, which have been shown to increase the sense of shared presence [18]. Finally, tracking and viewing apparatuses have been eliminated -3D glasses obstruct eye contact between participants and shutter glasses have been found to be "disruptive" to over 90% of users [18].…”

“…Stereo views are provided, which have been shown to increase the sense of shared presence [18]. Finally, tracking and viewing apparatuses have been eliminated -3D glasses obstruct eye contact between participants and shutter glasses have been found to be "disruptive" to over 90% of users [18]. We believe our system is the first to incorporate all of these characteristics: fully dynamic 3D scene capture, continuous look-around ability with full parallax, gaze preservation, and stereo display without the use of any encumbrances.…”

Model based 3D gaze estimation for provision of virtual eye contact

“…As customers are now getting used to high frame rate and high resolution video, the development has to cater to other non natural aspects of the communication. One of the most disturbing drawbacks that prevents natural conversation and therefore hinder the user acceptance [2] is missing eye contact between the conferees.…”