Nonverbal Interactions with Virtual Agents in a Virtual Reality Museum

Virtual reality (VR) learning environments can provide enriched, effective educational experiences by heightening one’s sense of immersion. Consequently, virtual agents (VAs) capable of complementing or substituting human instructors are gaining research traction. However, researchers predominantly examine VAs in nonimmersive contexts, rarely investigating their roles within immersive VR settings. Users’ sense of immersion and social presence in VR environments can fluctuate more significantly than in nonimmersive platforms, rendering the communicative attributes of VAs particularly consequential. This study investigates the effects of VAs’ nonverbal behaviors on user experience in a VR-based learning environment. A VR environment modeled after an art museum was developed, in which a virtual curator engaged participants through two distinct modes of interaction. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: a group with an agent applying both verbal and nonverbal behaviors or a group with an agent that only uses verbal communication. Findings demonstrated that the inclusion of nonverbal behaviors enhanced the participants’ sense of immersion, social presence, and engagement with the learning content. This study enriches the literature by identifying effective communication strategies for the design of VAs in VR environments and by offering implications for the development of more immersive and engaging VR experiences.