Pointing gestures and synchronous communication management

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on pointing gestures that do not function as deictic pointing to a concrete referent but rather as structuring the flow of information. Examples are given on their use in giving feedback and creating a common ground in natural conversations, and their meaning is described with the help of semantic themes of the Index Finger Extended gesture family. A communication model is also sketched together with an exploration of the simultaneous occurrence of gestures and speech signals, using a two-way approach that combines top-down linguistic-pragmatic and bottom-up signal analysis. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.