How Interpersonal Distance Between Avatar and Human Influences Facial Affect Recognition in Immersive Virtual Reality.

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal interpersonal distance (IPD) between humans and affective avatars in facial affect recognition in immersive virtual reality (IVR). The ideal IPD is the one in which the humans show the highest number of hits and the shortest reaction times in recognizing the emotions displayed by avatars. The results should help design future therapies to remedy facial affect recognition deficits.