Gestural Representation of Time in Virtual Space: Multimodal Analysis

Time can be represented non-verbally in the spatial context of virtual reality. Time gestures remain understudied in a temporal contexts, despite the strong analytical potential of modern technologies, e.g., virtual reality. Time gestures are deictic means in multimodal communication; they are both universal and linguistically dependent. In this research, the focus shifted from traditional linguistic methods to immersive environments that made it possible to explore body patterns behind the spatial and temporal organization of gestures. The multimodal analysis involved 24 informants, whose gestures were observed in five modeled virtual scenes with various spatial orientation parameters. The time gestures revealed consistent trajectories and forms along the sagittal, lateral, and vertical axes. The movement direction correlated with the temporal reference, while the body pattern depended on the linguistic model. The gestures that accompanied time expressions formed an integrated spatial-temporal system anchored in bodily orientation. The meaning of time gestures became evident only within specific communicative contexts.