{"id":760,"date":"2023-06-15T12:36:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T12:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/18.217.66.101\/?p=760"},"modified":"2024-01-10T14:14:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T14:14:16","slug":"practice-virtual-reality-improve-eye-contact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/blog\/practice-virtual-reality-improve-eye-contact","title":{"rendered":"Improve your Eye Contact with Practice in VR"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sustained, meaningful eye contact is a great way to enhance your&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/blog\/importance-of-eye-contact-during-a-presentation\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">impact as a presenter<\/a>&nbsp;and persuade others. It can help you build rapport with your audience, keep them engaged in a presentation and even improve your chances of selling your products or services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Benefits of great eye contact<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.discovermagazine.com\/mind\/were-beginning-to-understand-the-power-of-eye-contact\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Establishes a connection<\/a>&nbsp;with your audience<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Improves your concentration<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Projects authority and confidence<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Facilitates engagement with the audience<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The benefits are clear, however measuring and practicing eye contact is difficult, or at least it was till recently. Virtual reality (VR) has proven to be an effective method for measuring eye contact due to its immersive nature and precise eye-tracking capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Participants feel fully present within the virtual environment, increasing the authenticity of their eye contact behavior. In this article, we use the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/product\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VirtualSpeech app<\/a>\u00a0to analyze and get feedback on our eye contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Eye Contact Feedback in VR\" width=\"1220\" height=\"915\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4T4k2JgODns?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The VR app:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Immerses the learner in realistic virtual environments, such as a meeting room<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide real-time eye contact feedback and actionable tips for improvement<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>The first point goes some way in recreating the fear and excitement you might experience when speaking to individuals or groups of people. In&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/blog\/complete-guide-to-virtual-reality\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">virtual reality<\/a>, we can simulate a client&#8217;s phone going off, bright lighting at a conference, and many other scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second point is covered in this article. Both during and after the learner&#8217;s practice session e.g. sales pitch, conversation, presentation, speech) the app provides feedback for the learner on their eye contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The app also provides&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/practice\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">different training scenarios<\/a>&nbsp;where you can improve your eye contact with mini-games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Eye contact analysis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How eye contact is calculated<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For eye contact analysis, the app assumes the eyes are looking directly forward from the head. In this way, when the learner moves their head to look at something, the app assumes the eyes move as the head moves. If you watch presentations, you\u2019ll notice this mostly holds true and is a&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/blog\/the-athletes-way\/201403\/the-neuroscience-making-eye-contact\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fair assumption to make<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">VR app features and scenarios improve eye contact<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>There are different ways you can review your eye contact and identify areas to improve:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Heatmap of eye contact during a speech<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Score out of 10 for eye contact performance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Eye contact training mini-games<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Progress tracking<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Eye contact analysis &#8211; heatmap<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The app analyzes your eye contact throughout a speech and provides a heatmap of where you were looking. This allows you to identify any areas you have neglected or focussed too much on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The eye contact heatmaps are available in larger rooms, such as the conference or TEDx environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vs-static.virtualspeech.com\/img\/app\/eye_contact_practice_conference_vr.jpg\" alt=\"Eye contact practice in VR showing a heatmap in a conference room\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.8857142857142857;width:840px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Above shows an eye contact heatmap, which you can use to identify areas of the audience you were focussing on.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vs-static.virtualspeech.com\/img\/app\/eye_contact_practice_conference_grey_vr.jpg\" alt=\"Eye contact practice in VR showing a greyscale heatmap\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.8857142857142857;width:840px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The same heatmap, but with the environment color turned off and the audience removed, so that the heatmap is more visible.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Eye contact training &#8211; mini-games<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The VirtualSpeech app contains an&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/practice\/eye-contact\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">eye contact mini-course<\/a>, where you\u2019ll interact with different virtual avatars and scenarios to learn how to distribute eye contact amongst different-sized audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vs-static.virtualspeech.com\/img\/app\/eye_contact_practice_meeting_vr.jpg\" alt=\"Eye contact practice in a VR meeting and sales room\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.8803418803418803;width:840px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Practice your eye contact distribution during a sales pitch or interview. The blue target fades over time as you focus on it and moves to the next avatar after a few seconds.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vs-static.virtualspeech.com\/img\/app\/eye_contact_practice_vr_targets.jpg\" alt=\"Eye contact training course with targets in virtual reality\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.8857142857142857;width:840px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The mini-game shown above improves your eye contact distribution. The blue targets fade over time and fade-in slowly when you take your focus off them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Eye contact scoring &#8211; rating out of 10<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In some environments, you&#8217;ll receive a score out of 10 after your practice session, indicating how effective your eye contact was. The below example shows a user performing perfectly on eye contact in a meeting room, scoring 10\/10. The audience is, therefore, more likely to engage with the learner when speaking and understand the message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vs-static.virtualspeech.com\/img\/app\/virtualspeech-speech-analysis-eye-contact.jpg\" alt=\"Eye contact score out of 10 in VR\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.8857142857142857;width:840px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Receive&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/blog\/analysing-speech-in-vr-with-feedback\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">speech analysis<\/a>&nbsp;on your practice session, which covers areas such as filler words, eye contact, and speaking pace.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Track progress within the app<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The eye contact scores you receive are saved so that you can measure your progress over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vs-static.virtualspeech.com\/img\/app\/track-progress-in-vr.jpg\" alt=\"Tracking your eye contact progress within the VirtualSpeech app\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.8857142857142857;width:840px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In conclusion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The VirtualSpeech app provides a powerful way for you to analyze and review your eye contact in different rooms and for different sized audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With this feedback, you can improve your eye contact in real-life situations, which will help you get your message across to the audience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how practicing eye contact in VR can help you build rapport, keep people engaged in your presentation and sell your products or services. Examples and eye contact heatmaps provided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":761,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-verbal-communication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2209,"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions\/2209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virtualspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}