An overview of technology’s impact on our forms of non-verbal communication
Ludens Virtual Human Agents can remedy some of the negative influences that technology has had on non-verbal communication forms. Forms that are the backbone of much of what makes our communication human and natural.
When Shigetaka Kurita invented emojis in 1999, he was trying to make communication through technology more efficient. Ironically, his creation provides a great tool to illustrate how technology can limit human communication, making it less efficient.
Take the sentence, ‘I agree.’ On the surface, it’s very straight forward, but what does it mean? Adding emojis illustrates how its meaning can change. Follow ‘I agree’ with a heart emoji expresses support or happiness, while a broken heart emoji expresses sorrow or regret.
In the above example, emojis represent something more than words. They are, to some degree, encompassing parts of the non-verbal communication that humans use to say much more than what we can put into words. For example, expressing support or sadness through our tone of voice, posture, or facial expressions.
Various new communication technologies have been invented to make communication through — and with — machines more efficient and nuanced. Unfortunately, they tend to make said communication more difficult and error-prone instead of easier and better — especially because of their inability to incorporate non-verbal communication forms like those mentioned above.
Ludens Virtual Human Agent (VHA) technology is a way of improving the situation. In part by adding human, non-verbal elements to the communication between technology and people.
The history of non-verbal communication
The scientific study of non-verbal communication in many ways started with one of Charles Darwin’s lesser-known books. In 1872, Darwin published The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. In its pages, he argued that humans, as well as all other mammals, show emotion through facial expressions. We are, in other words, using our outward, physical features to express our internal emotional state.
The incredible nuances of this communication form were explored by Ray Birdwhistell, who estimated that humans can make and recognize as many as 250,000 facial expressions.
A decade later, the study of non-verbal communication had moved far beyond facial expressions, covering areas such as personal space, eye contact, nonverbal cues, posture, touch, immediacy, and much more.
The purpose of non-verbal communication was also examined, with Michael Argyle concluding in 1988 that the five main functions of nonverbal communication are: self-presentation of one’s whole personality, rituals and cultural greetings (cultural cohesion, group cohesion), expressing interpersonal attitudes, expressing emotions, and to accompany speech.
Non-verbal communication’s importance
As evident from the list above, non-verbal communication plays several hugely important roles in communication. One of the ongoing debates surrounding non-verbal communication is how large a percentage of our communication it covers. Some researchers put is as high as 90% — for specific situations. A general rule of thumb is that non-verbal communication often provides more than half of the information and context for conveying meaning and information. In other words (poor wordplay intended) how you say something and your expression while saying it is at least, if not more, as important as the words you use to express it.
All of which is a huge problem for many kinds of technology (for example, messaging apps, email, and work communication tools such as Slack) that we use to communicate with today. For reference, this article will incorporate these technologies when talking about ‘traditional communication technologies.’
Almost every form of modern communication technology struggles to incorporate even the most basic non-verbal communication cues. This leaves humans with a communication gap that creates the breeding ground for misunderstandings — something that can lead to frustrations and misunderstandings that can cause severe stress in both our personal and professional lives. For communication with machines, which we are becoming more and more reliant on, it means that we humans must adapt to our creations (for example, through coding or by being limited to use a set number of commands) instead of the other way around.
These are some of the issues that Ludens’s next-generation Virtual Human Agent technology seeks to address. VHAs use AI capable of recognizing and express non-verbal communication forms. They integrate blockchain technology that assists with creating a trust that the communication is kept private. Furthermore, the VHA’s humanoid form means that the integration of verbal and nonverbal communication form looks and feels human to its users.
Below is an overview of some of the most common forms of non-verbal communication, how they are influenced by popular technology communication forms, as well as how we can integrate them in communication through the use of VHA technology.
Gestures
Gestures include body movements (mainly hands and arms but also other parts of the body) as well as movements of your head, face, and eyes, such as winking, nodding, or rolling your eyes.
Gestures are generally categorized as either speech-independent or speech-related. Speech-independent gestures depend on culturally accepted interpretation (nodding can mean yes or no, depending on the culture) and often have a direct verbal translation.
Speech-related gestures are used in parallel with verbal speech. They are often culturally anchored, but some are almost universally understood (such as holding up your hands with palms facing forwards to indicate that you are non-threatening and seeking peace).
Traditional communication technologies: Considering how wide a scope of gestures humans have available, it is fair to say that popular communication technologies almost all fail to encompass this form of non-verbal communication. Smileys are one example of how forms try to encompass non-verbal gestures, but even so, it is impossible to reproduce the details (how much you shrug, how quickly you release your shoulders are just two aspects of a single gesture that can convey detailed meaning). Online meeting applications allow for some gestures, but as they are often limited to displaying a person’s face, gesture expression is similarly limited.
VHA technology: Thanks to the use of humanoid AR and VR forms, VHAs can incorporate gestures to a degree that is much higher than traditional communication forms.
Facial expressions
For most individual humans — and human cultures — facial expressions represent the most effective and encompassing form of non-verbal communication. As previously mentioned, our faces can produce thousands and thousands of different expressions. Many of these are expressions of emotions, including happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust, shame, anguish, and interest. Furthermore, most facial expressions are universally recognized and understood.
Traditional communication technologies: Almost all forms of traditional communication technology struggle to reproduce facial expressions accurately. As with gestures, some text-based forms of communication enable the use of emojis to encompass some of the communication abilities that come from facial expressions, but they are still very limited when it comes to nuances. The same applies to updated versions, such as Apple’s Animoji. The only traditional communication form capable of conveying facial expressions is online meeting applications. In the case of both gestures and facial expressions, this is limited to online video-communication taking place directly between humans.
VHA technology: As with gestures, VHAs are capable of reproducing human-like responses and facial expressions thanks to their virtual human form. Furthermore, VHA’s AI can recognize and respond to emotions displayed through facial expressions thanks to advanced image analysis.
Eye contact
Eye contact is simply speaking instances where two entities (usually two people) look each other directly in the eye during communication. It is one of the primary ways to non-verbally express engagement, interest, attention, and involvement. However, it is worth noting that the level and duration of eye contact vary from culture to culture and can, in some instances, holding eye contact can be perceived as threatening or intimidating. In others, it is a way to indicate that you are continually engaged in the conversation.
Traditional communication technologies: As with the previously mentioned types of non-verbal communication, traditional communication technologies struggle to incorporate eye contact. This also extends to video-calls, due to the placement of cameras on computer units and the layout of the video feed of the person or persons you are conversing with. Basically, if you try to maintain eye contact during a video call, you generally have to look away from the person you are talking with and directly at the camera.
VHA technology: Thanks to its virtual humanoid form, VHAs can establish and maintain eye contact. Ludens’ VHA technology is complemented by an SDK that enables users and developers to customize the technology. One possible parameter is to tune eye contact so that it mirrors the cultural norms of the country where the specific VHA is to be used.
Posture
Posture is one of the easiest ways of telling if someone is interested in what we are saying. Forward-leaning posture generally means interest. If a person is sitting back with crossed arms, it is usually a sign of being disinterested. This is just one example of why how we posture our bodies is another very important aspect of how we communicate with our surroundings. This includes the way we sit, walk, stand, or hold our heads.
Traditional communication technologies: Posture is a means of communication that is hard to replicate through traditional communication technologies. This extends to the likes of video calls through Skype or similar services.
VHA technology: A VHA generally has a full humanoid shape. This means that it can replicate things like human posture.
Many more forms
It should be noted that the forms of non-verbal communication mentioned above are just a few of the ones we use on a daily basis.
Many of these are, as the list above illustrates, within the scope of VHA technology, but outside of the scope of most — if not all — traditional communication technologies.
Others, such as the likes of touch, remains beyond the scope of both traditional communication technologies and VHAs.
However, VHAs have never been intended to substitute human communication. Instead, the goal is to make conversation with — and through — technology more human-like, and, perhaps more importantly, free up your time by fixing faulty and frustrating communication through and with technology.
