Verbal communication during cooperative object manipulation

Cooperation between multiple users in a virtual environment (VE) can take place at one of three levels, but it is only at the highest level that users can simultaneously interact with the same object. This paper describes a study in a straightforward real-world task (maneuvering a large object through a restricted space) was used to investigate object manipulation by pairs of participants in a VE, and focuses on the verbal communication that took place. This communication was analyzed using both categorizing and conversation analysis techniques. Of particular note was the sheer volume of communication that took place. One third of this was instructions from one participant to another of the locomotion and manipulation movements that they should make. Another quarter was general communication that was not directly related to performance of the experimental task, and often involved explicit statements of participants' actions or requests for clarification about what was happening. Further research is required to determine the extent to which haptic and auditory feedback reduce the need for inter-participant communication in collaborative tasks