Gesture Evaluation in Virtual Reality

In the realm of human communication, gestures serve as an integral component, facilitating nonverbal expression and enhancing the richness of interpersonal interactions Studdert-Kennedy [1994]. Gestures can convey many different types of information between speaker and interlocutor, ranging from clear communication of intent, e.g., the thumbs up gesture Kendon [1997], to ambiguous and non-codified gestures which may convey some subconscious thought Goldin-Meadow [1999] or emotional state Krauss et al. [1996]. A burgeoning technology that seeks to utilize the communicative quality of gesticulation is the field of Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) Louwerse et al. [2009]Cassell [2000], in which the study of gestural communication gains prominence as researchers seek to produce AIgenerated gestures to increase the life-likeness and communicative qualities of ECAs Kucherenko et al. [2023]. So far, the evaluations of these generated gestures have mainly been conducted in 2D settings.