A joint activity theory analysis of body interactions in multiplayer virtual basketball

To create embodied agents which exhibit realistic behaviour, we should first examine how humans behave with each other in the same context. In this paper, we define the context as navigating a virtual environment and using body movement as signals for communication. We undertake a novel experiment in which two humans play virtual basketball as a team in distributed locations, using only their bodies to navigate and execute tasks. Participants interact mainly through moving throughout the virtual world while passing a virtual ball. We propose that joint activity theory concepts are prevalent in virtual world communication, find evidence to support this hypothesis, and generate insights which can be used to create effective agents in the same type of environment. Even with a limited communication channel, it was found that the intention of players was able to be understood, which shows the existence of various joint activity theory concepts.