For some time, psychologists have known that people come across as more likable when they mirror the body language of the person they’re speaking with. Now a team of researchers has discovered that the same holds true for computer-generated characters.
The researchers, from Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, sat 69 students in front of digital avatars delivering a sales pitch. All of the avatars gesticulated like real humans, but half of them mimicked the students’ own motions—and students, the study found, considered the mimics to be more friendly and persuasive than the other avatars. (Wired News)
