Abstract

Not all experiences with video conferencing are positive. We are trying to use the concept of interpersonal synchrony, which has many social benefits, to compensate for the negative impacts which the COVID-19 pandemic has made us deal with, such as not being able to meet in person. In order to induce synchrony between people in a video conference, we created a multiplayer WebAR game, which takes part in this setting. The game is movement based as players must shake their head and hands. A repeated measures user study with seven dyads was designed which compared a sandbox, synchronous and asynchronous mode in real-life conditions. The results are not conclusive in showing that movement synchrony was achieved. However, the experience in general had positive effects on the participants, like increased feeling of connectedness and overall good enjoyment. Technical issues such as the performance of the game played a big role on the outcome of the study. This game shows that the concept of multiplayer AR games is promising and should be explored further, though under more controlled hardware conditions.

Results/Implementation/Project Description

Conclusion

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