Abstract This experiment investigated whether eye contact would evoke similar attention and emotion related psychophysiological responses in virtual reality (VR) as in a face-to-face interaction. Participants viewed a confederate in a live interaction (Live condition) and a confederate's avatar in VR (VR condition). In both conditions, the confederate/avatar was portraying direct and laterally averted gaze. Heart rate deceleration responses reflecting attention orienting were greater to direct gaze compared to averted gaze, and the effect was not significantly different between Live and VR conditions. However, skin conductance responses reflecting physiological arousal were larger in response to direct than averted gaze only in the Live condition. These results suggest that while eye contact with a live person evokes substantial attention and emotion related psychophysiological responses, the physiological effects of eye contact are diminished in VR.

中文翻译：

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虚拟现实中的眼神接触——一项心理生理学研究

摘要 本实验调查了在虚拟现实 (VR) 中，眼神接触是否会像面对面的互动一样引起与注意力和情绪相关的心理生理反应。参与者在实时交互（现场条件）中观看了同盟者，并在 VR（VR 条件）中观看了同盟者的化身。在这两种情况下，同盟者/化身都在描绘直接和横向回避的凝视。与转移注视相比，反映注意力定向的心率减速反应比直接注视要大，并且在实时和 VR 条件下效果没有显着差异。然而，仅在 Live 条件下，反映生理唤醒的皮肤电导反应对直接注视的反应比对转移注视的反应更大。