A user study on the relationship between empathy and facial-based emotion simulation in Virtual Reality

Abstract

In the contemporary metaverse landscape, comprehending the intricacies of human interaction is imperative for enhancing communication within Virtual Reality (VR) experiences. At the core of meaningful social relationships lie empathy and trust, pivotal elements nurtured by the capacity to comprehend both self and others' thoughts and intentions. Conventional face-to-face interactions heavily rely on non-verbal cues, such as body language and facial expressions, to convey messages and display empathy. To investigate the relationship between emotional simulation in VR and empathetic skills, in this paper we conducted a user study involving 37 participants, which were requested of simulating facial expressions in a virtual environment. In order to capture their facial behavior, we employed the Meta Quest Pro, a virtual reality headset featured with accurate built-in sensors for capturing 63 microexpressions, accordingly to the Facial Action Coding System (FACS)[11]. Furthermore, the Interpersonal reactivity index (IRI)[9] questionnaire was used to assess the participants' empathetic abilities. The results of this study underscore a statistically significant correlation between participants' empathetic skills and their capacity to simulate emotions through facial expressions within the context of VR scenarios. Additionally, this research offers valuable insights into the prevalence of human micro-expressions during the simulation of seven distinct emotions. These findings lay the foundation for potential applications in the field of mental health and emotional well-being within the context of metaverse.