A comparative study on inter-brain synchrony in real and virtual environments using hyperscanning. (February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gumilar, Ihshan; Sareen, Ekansh; Bell, Reed; Stone, Augustus; Hayati, Ashkan; Mao, Jingwen; Barde, Amit; Gupta, Anubha; Dey, Arindam; Lee, Gun; Billinghurst, Mark
• Is Part Of: Computers & graphics. Volume 94(2021)
• Page Start: 62
• Page End: 75
• Publication Date: 2021-02
• Subjects: Hyperscanning -- Virtual Reality -- Brain synchronization -- Social neuroscience -- Remote collaboration -- Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW); Computer graphics -- Periodicals; 006.6
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cag.2020.10.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0097-8493

Abstract

Abstract : highlights: Virtual Reality (VR) can induce inter-brain synchrony. Conducting a collaborative task together in VR has increased inter-brain synchrony between people who involved in the task. Having a first-person perspective in VR has induced inter-brain synchrony in beta frequency while doing a collaborative task. Graphical abstract: Abstract: Researchers have employed hyperscanning, a technique used to simultaneously record neural activity from multiple participants, in real-world collaborations. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study that has used hyperscanning in Virtual Reality (VR). The aims of this study were; firstly, to replicate results of inter-brain synchrony reported in existing literature for a real world task and secondly, to explore whether the inter-brain synchrony could be elicited in a Virtual Environment (VE). This paper reports on three pilot-studies in two different settings (real-world and VR). Paired participants performed two sessions of a finger-pointing exercise separated by a finger-tracking exercise during which their neural activity was simultaneously recorded by electroencephalography (EEG) hardware. By using Phase Locking Value (PLV) analysis, VR was found to induce similar inter-brain synchrony as seen in the real-world. Further, it was observed that the finger-pointing exercise shared the same neurally activated area in both the real-world and VR. Based on these results, we infer that VR can be used to enhance inter-brain synchrony in collaborative tasks carried out in a VE. In particular, we have been able to demonstrate that changing visual perspective in VR is capable of eliciting inter-brain synchrony. This demonstrates that VR could be an exciting platform to explore the phenomena of inter-brain synchrony further and provide a deeper understanding of the neuroscience of human communication.