An embodied communication system with avatar-shadow’s color expressions based on an interaction-activated communication model in voice communication

Shadows play an important role in the effects of three-dimension and the enhancement of reality in virtual space. On the other hand, addition of color change in human interaction and communication is effective for enhancing expressions such as affects and interactions. Therefore, by changing the color of avatar’s shadows based on the interaction, it is expected to activate and enhance an avatar-mediated interaction and communication. In this study, focusing on the effects of avatar-shadow’s color, we develop an embodied communication system which expresses the change of avatarshadow color based on an interaction-activated communication model. The model estimates activation levels of embodied communication based on speech input, and the color of avatar-shadow is changed on the basis of the estimated values. A communication experiment is performed with 12 pairs of participants to evaluate the system. The results of the sensory evaluation demonstrate that the color expressions of avatar-shadow are effective for visualizing embodied interaction and communication.