This research investigates human mimicry during real-time human-avatar interactions, emphasizing cognitive science and social resonance.
By integrating tools like Unity 3D and Mediapipe for creating avatars and tracking facial expressions via live webcam feeds, the study explores the underlying mechanisms of social resonance and the Theory of Event Coding to enhance how people naturally connect with lifelike avatars.
This research explores the measurement, prediction, and impact of human mimicry in real-time human-avatar interactions, with a focus on cognitive science and social resonance. An avatar was recreated using Unity 3D, a real time 3D development engine and parallelly a tool named Mediapipe was set to create facial landmarks using live webcam feed was developed, leveraging Action Units to measure participants' mimicry and the avatars response to the facial expressions from the user. Through technical innovations, the study seeks to enhance how people naturally mimic and connect with lifelike avatars in virtual environments.
These avatars were designed to enhance social interactions and the research faced challenges in real-time interaction, including the integration of Unity 3D with Mediapipe, facial expression synchronization, and networking issues such as latency and data loss. The results of this study are expected to deepen our understanding of social resonance and its role in digital interactions, offering valuable insights for improving the realism and effectiveness of avatars. By addressing challenges such as synchronization, expression matching, and networking issues, the study aims to enhance the realism and effectiveness of avatars, providing insights to improve social interactions in virtual environments.
