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We evaluated effects of gaze direction and other non-verbal visual cues on multiparty mediated communication. Groups of three participants (two actors, one subject) solved language puzzles in three audiovisual communication conditions. Each condition presented a different selection of images of the actors to subjects: (1) frontal motion video; (2) motion video with gaze directional cues; (3) still images with gaze directional cues. Results show that subjects used twice as many deictic references to persons when head orientation cues were present. We also found a linear relationship between the amount of actor gaze perceived by subjects and the number of speaking turns taken by subjects. Lack of gaze can decrease turn-taking efficiency of multiparty mediated systems by 25%. This is because gaze conveys whether one is being addressed or expected to speak, and is used to regulate social intimacy. Support for gaze directional cues in multiparty mediated systems is therefore recommended.
Vertegaal et al. (Sat,) studied this question.