Technology

Scientists have proven that augmented reality changes people's behavior

New research by experts from StanfordSchools of the humanities and natural sciences prove that the experience of augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) significantly changes the behavior of a person in the real world even after he stops using AR headsets. Three experiments with the participation of 218 volunteers helped the group of scientists led by Professor Jeremy Bylenson to clarify this fact. The results of the research specialists were published by the journal PLOS ONE. The press release of the study is published on the website of Stanford University.

During the first experiment, its participantsshowed a realistic 3D model of a man named Chris sitting on a chair in the room (the picture was created using augmented reality technology, that is, overlaying a virtual image layer on the image of the real physical world) Volunteers were asked to complete an anagram assignments while Chris watched them watch. Scientists have discovered that people, like the presence of a real person, literally felt the presence of Chris, which in turn affected the speed of anagrams. Participants noted that having a person in augmented reality, who followed them, made solving the problem more difficult.

During the second experiment, scientists decidedcheck if the participants can sit in the chair where Chris was previously sitting. It turned out that despite the absence of a virtual person in the chair, none of the participants who used the AR-headset at that moment decided to sit on this chair. Even when people removed the headset, 72 percent of them did not dare to take Chris's chair and sat down on the side.

“The fact that none of the participants who used the AR-headset sat on the chair on which the virtual avatar had previously sat was a surprise to us,” comments Baylenson.

"These results suggest how deepAugmented reality content is able to integrate into your physical space, changing your behavior and relationship with it. Interestingly, the feeling of having AR content was observed even after the participants removed their headsets. ”

In the last experiment, scientists paired uppeople who were in the AR-headset and without it. Communication took place between them, after which people with headsets noted that they felt less connected with their interlocutor.

"We found that using technologyAugmented reality can change your behavior: how you walk, how you turn your head, how you perform different tasks, and how you communicate in the social sphere with other real people in the room, ”summarizes Bulenson.

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