Moving in unison feels good
Research consistently shows that individuals like each other more when they move their bodies (or parts of their bodies) in synchrony during shared activities (such as playing music, dancing, practicing Tai Chi, or simply having a conversation). Synchronized movement enhances social interactions and promotes interpersonal attraction, empathy, cohesion, and the sense of affiliation.
The Social Connectedness Proof-of-Principle (PoP) extended these findings into eXtended Reality (XR) environments. The project explored how sensorimotor group dynamics, traditionally bound to physical space, can be transferred to XR platforms. More specifically, we tested an underlying cognitive architecture that enables or disrupts inter-agent movement synchronization during collective activities.
This was achieved using virtual avatars driven by humans (L1) and fully autonomous agents (L3) that adapt their behaviors in real time to support human users and moderate social dynamics in hybrid environments.
The Social Connectedness PoP identified the core operational features of group synchronization and connectedness, which now serve as the foundational “functional bricks” of SHARESPACE, further instantiated in two real-world applications:
- Social Low Back Pain Scenario
- Shared Creativity Scenario
Experimental Phases
The Social Connectedness PoP consisted of three experimental phases:
- Phase I – Human-to-Human Interaction (Physical Space)
- Phase II – Human-to-Human Interaction in Virtual Reality (L1)
- Phase III – Human-to-Autonomous Agent Interaction in Extended Reality (L3)
Phase I: Synchrony and Pain in Physical Space
Phase I examined how perturbations affect group synchrony during human-human interaction. Previous studies have shown that synchrony can alleviate unpleasant sensations, suggesting potential therapeutic uses for collective rhythmic movement. However, the impact of unpleasant sensations (such as pain) on synchrony and its socio-affective consequences remained unexplored. This study investigated the relationship between synchrony, pain, and social connectedness, revealing new insights into the bidirectional links between body coordination and affective experience.
An open-access pre-print publication summarizing the results is available here:
Ayache, J., Laroche, J., Caraminot, O., Pistre, C., Pla, S., Bienkiewicz, M., & Bardy, B. (2025, July 28). GROUP SYNCHRONY AND PAIN: INVESTIGATING THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN SOCIAL BONDING AND AFFECTIVE STATES. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/7s6eb_v1
Phase II: Group Synchrony in Virtual Reality (L1)
Phase II explored how group synchrony emerges in multi-user VR environments, taking into account both technical and perceptual limitations. Capturing and rendering realistic human movement in VR involves challenges such as inverse kinematics and latency, while Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) restrict the field of view and alter movement perception. This phase examined how participants synchronized in VR (L1) and how this influenced their individual kinematics and socio-affective states.
A summary of the results was presented at ISMAR 2025 (Daejeon, South Korea, October 8–12, 2025) and is available online:
J. Ayache et al., “Rendering Togetherness: Embodied Social Synchronization in Multi-User VR,” 2025 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR), Daejeon, Korea, Republic of, 2025, pp. 696-705, doi: 10.1109/ISMAR67309.2025.00079.
Phase III: Synchrony with Autonomous Agents (L3)
Phase III investigated whether autonomous virtual agents (L3) could influence group synchrony and social connectedness in XR. While prior research has examined synchrony between humans and virtual agents, few studies have addressed hybrid group synchrony, where autonomous agents interact dynamically with human participants through fully animated, kinematically realistic bodies.
Because human group synchrony depends on subtle kinematic cues, L3 agents must exhibit realistic movement dynamics to foster both synchrony and connectedness. This phase assessed how L3 agents affect group coordination, individual movement patterns, and socio-affective outcomes, providing a foundation for designing socially intelligent systems in XR.
A summary of the results was presented at JAM X (Turin, Italy, July 9-12, 2025), Team and Multi-agent Dynamics Workshop (Montpellier, France, July 15-16, 2025), and Timing Research Forum (Tokyo, Japan, October 17-19, 2025).
