Pseudo Physical Contact and Communication in VRChat: A Study with Survey Method in Japanese Users

Abstract

VRChat is one of social virtual reality platforms and getting popular. Pseudo physical contacts are used for communication in VRChat. We performed a questionnaire survey for VRChat users (N=341) in Japan to take statistics of users and their avatars, and to investigate effects of pseudo physical contacts on interpersonal attractiveness and communication. Users were 87% male, 8% female, and 4% neutral genders in the real world, while their avatars were 4% male, 87% female, and 9% neutral. Participants answered that the interpersonal attractiveness increased and the communication difficulty decreased after pseudo physical contacts, suggesting that the pseudo physical contact may improve our social relationship without actual touch.