The temporal context of eye contact influences perceptions of communicative intent.

This study examined the perceptual dynamics of eye contact that influence its perception as a communicative display. Participants (n=137) completed a task where they decided if human-like and robotic virtual agents were inspecting or requesting one of three objects. Each agent shifted its gaze three times per trial. The study manipulated the presence, frequency, and sequence of eye contact across six conditions. Significant differences were found among all gaze conditions. Participants were most likely, and fastest, to perceive communication when eye contact occurred between two averted gaze shifts towards the same object. Findings suggest that the relative temporal context of direct and averted gaze, rather than eye contact frequency or recency, is key to determining its communicative potency. Bayesian analyses revealed commensurate effects across human-like and robotic agents. These findings inform the perceptual determinants of optimal communication between humans, and how this can be engineered in artificial agents.