Slashdot Mirror
Eye Contact Will Influence Man-Machine Interaction
atari_kid writes "ScienceDaily is running a story about a researcher findings on the importance of eye contact in group communications. More importantly, the findings show how the amount of eye contact one receives in a group will effect the number of turns one can take in a discussion. What is interesting about the study his how it will effect the design of the future communication devices, like for example: 'Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) which support communication between people and machines.' The research findings will be also used to facilitate user interactions with devices like PDA's and cell phones. I wonder if the findings could explain why the 'beautiful people' have such influence on the mass media."
Does this mean Xeyes will actually have a useful function?
It's the future of computing!
I am a rehabilitation/social worker for the blind and visually impaired... a great percentage of the world population has eye conditions, in which eye contact is difficult as a result of poor focus, strabismus, to name a few. When communicating with someone who is visually impaired, many other key stimulus must be realized. A blind or visually impaired person may show body language suggesting their desire to speak, or simply wait-out, at which point, people usually listen to the quiet group member. I think that using eye-contact as a variable in online group meetings is an interesting idea, but many other considerations must be met.
A University of Chicago study in 1994 found that the quality of a woman's interaction with a group of males can be measured by the amount of eye contact with her breasts.
Phallic Symbols in LOTR
Anyone who's read "how to win friends and infulence people" know you score points by paying attention - making eye contact is the first step in that.
I can't say it loud enough: DUH!!
I wonder if the findings could explain why the 'beautiful people' have such influence on the mass media."
:)
No, they have this influence because your hormones tell you that if you pay attention, you might be allowed to mate with the alpha male/female.
Sadly, they are wrong.
The notion, however, that human computer interaction becomes better by mimicking human to human interaction seems ridiculous. Computers are tools. I no more want to engage in social eye contact with a computer than I want to with my drill, my car, or my vacuum cleaner.
Eye contact is used to regulate attention in social situations--a precious commodity among humans. But when it comes to tools and appliances, I expect them to pay full attention to me all the time, but to respond only when spoken to. None of that involves eye contact.
Notice that the words 'beautiful people' were enclosed in these things ''. That's because the words are not to be interpreted literally.
"Beautiful People" are not necessarily "attractive people."
BS is, in fact, a prime example of that. She is the nearly the perfect example of what a 'beautiful person' is, even though she has a face a horse couldn't love, even if it were her mother.
The term 'beautiful people' is what is know as an *idiom.* An idiom is a word or phrase who's meaning is not literal. Idiom's make translation from one language to another a hellish undertaking at times and explains some of the more bizarre behaviours of the fish.
As it happens fame is one of the things that might make one 'beautiful' . . . no matter one's looks. Financial status, jetsetting, aquaintences, where you summer and a number of other factors go into making one 'beautiful.'
Oh, and clothes of course. 'Beautiful people' wholeheartedly believe the maxim "Clothes make the man." If your clothes are beautiful *you* are beautiful.
At the opposite extreme, and relying on a fictional charecter ( but real person )Kelly Bundy was hot, sexy and otherwise extremely attractive. Kelly Bundy was not a 'beautiful person.' Kelly Bundy was a tramp. Kelly Bundy would not be allowed to serve a beautiful person tea. . . unless maybe she were wearing Gucci.
KFG
Mr. Kruschev did not take off his shoe and bang it angrily on the table.
Oh, he banged a shoe angrily on the table all right, but *he didn't take it off.*
If you examine film footage of the event very carefully you'll notice one very interesting fact, Senor Kruschev is *wearing both his shoes.*
Messr. Kruschev was not just some angry ape given to bizarre fits of pique. One did not survive under the Stalinist purges to rise to party leadership by not being a very clever, perceptive and *manipulative* man.
The Honorable Kruschev actually *brought a shoe to the meeting hall with him* with the express intent of banging it on the table! The whole thing was cleverly staged.
KFG
already obey my every whim when I interact with them. They are my virtual comunications slaves.
Why, I can literally * push their buttons* and they respond as I will, when I will them too.
Frankly I find the idea of having to make "eye contact" with an inanimate object kind of creepy.
I can just see it now, I've made "eye contact" with a sweet young thing, she turns out to be compliant, we handshake, interface and we're just about to get to the good parts involving "sockets" when she "makes eye contact" ( today's catch phrase for "look at") with me and says:
"Not in front of the phone. I can't do it with someone watching."
KFG
Hehehehe. This reminds me of a little experiment done to our social psych professor. It demonstrates the power of attention, but also shaping (gradual conditioning) in a rather insidious form.
The class had been studying shaping -- where you don't condition for an end behaviour but for an intermediate, easier one. Then when you have that, you shape to the next behaviour in a chain, repeating as necessary. That way, you can condition complicated behaviours that would occur too infrequently by chance to reward the pattern.
The idea was to pay our prof more or less attention the more or less he did a specific behaviour, and we chose teaching from one side of the stage rather than the other (in this case, reinforcing stage left, our right). Was probably good that only about 20 people were in on it, otherwise it might have been too obvious. But when he'd wander to our left, we'd stare at our books, scratch our heads, frown, slouch, and never make eye contact. If he moved to our right, we'd sit up a little straighter, look at him, and basically show we were paying attention. Well, if you ever have a glance around a sizable class, you know there are seldom many people giving their complete attention anyway, unless the prof is riveting. It only took a few classes to have him spending most of his time to the right of the lectern. We kept this up for nearly a month, at which point he basically taught the class from a window sill on the right edge of the room. Most impressivly, he didn't know what was going on. Most likely he just felt "most comfortable" there. Hehehehehehe.
People love to slag psychology but everyone acknowledges the importance of things like "eye contact." It's time we started giving these things some credit. Like the previous poster noting the power a "team of salespeople" could have, this can be powerful stuff.