Interpersonal Synchrony Over a Distance – the Effect of Network Noise on Synchronization and its Prosocial Consequences

Research Background and Problem

• What problems or challenges did the authors identify?
  This study investigates the performance of remote Interpersonal Motor Synchronization (rIMS) under noise interference and its impact on prosocial behaviors such as cooperation and trust. Traditional interpersonal motor synchronization is limited to face-to-face interactions, but remote synchronization faces a major challenge due to temporal noise caused by network latency and jitter.

• Why is this problem important?
  With the increase in remote work, gaming, and social activities, physical interaction in remote experiences is crucial for enhancing emotional connection and cooperation. Addressing the issue of network noise in remote interpersonal synchronization or identifying optimal conditions could significantly improve the quality and effectiveness of remote collaboration.

• Research motivation and related work
  The motivation for this study stems from evidence that synchronized behavior promotes prosocial attitudes such as trust and cooperation. Previous research has focused on the impact of interpersonal synchronization on prosocial behaviors and its applications in real-world scenarios but has not sufficiently explored how network noise affects remote interpersonal synchronization and its social outcomes. This study fills this gap by designing a simple remote synchronization task (click interaction on mobile phones) to examine the impact of network jitter.

Solution

• What methods or solutions did the authors propose?
  The authors developed a mobile application that allows participants to perform a click synchronization task with a simulated remote partner. To explore the impact of network jitter, the experiment included three levels of simulated network noise: low jitter (50ms), medium jitter (200ms), and high jitter (400ms).

• What are the innovative aspects of this solution?

  1. This study is the first to combine remote interpersonal motor synchronization (rIMS) with communication technology, using mobile phones as the experimental platform to enhance ecological validity.
  2. An innovative measurement method, Shared Tempo Time (STT), was developed to evaluate synchronization levels, capturing rhythm matching in remote synchronization tasks even when click events are not perfectly synchronized.
  3. The system incorporated an algorithm that simultaneously responded to participants' rhythms and simulated network jitter, making the experiment closer to real-world remote interaction environments.

• What are the implementation steps and key technologies used?

  1. Experiment design: Participants performed a clicking task on mobile phones to observe whether their clicks could synchronize with those of a simulated partner.
  2. Simulating network noise: Different levels of jitter (low, medium, high) were introduced to test their impact on synchronization ability.
  3. Measurement and analysis: Synchronization was evaluated using two methods:
     • Pearson correlation coefficient: Measuring the covariance of click intervals.
     • STT method: Identifying and quantifying shared tempo time.
  4. Psychological questionnaire: Investigating three dimensions of prosocial behavior: sense of cooperation (PC), sense of togetherness/fusion (TO), and willingness to collaborate in the future (WC).

Research Findings

• What specific findings were obtained?

  1. Remote synchronization can be achieved using a simple mobile application, but synchronization ability significantly decreases as network jitter levels increase.
  2. The STT method demonstrated greater sensitivity compared to traditional Pearson correlation, capturing subtle changes in shared rhythm even under high jitter conditions.
  3. Network jitter not only affects synchronization ability but also significantly reduces prosociality, including the sense of cooperation, togetherness, and willingness to continue collaboration.

• What advantages does it have compared to existing solutions?
  Compared to traditional laboratory studies, this solution employs a more ecologically valid design (mobile application-based). The developed STT method is suitable for capturing remote motor synchronization behaviors and provides a more detailed understanding of the impact of synchronization on social attitudes.

• What were the experimental or evaluation results?

  1. Synchronization performance: Synchronization was highest under low jitter conditions, with STT values significantly outperforming those in medium and high jitter conditions.
  2. Prosocial behavior: Participants were more willing to continue collaborating with simulated partners under low jitter conditions; questionnaire scores for prosocial behaviors also decreased as jitter levels increased.
  3. Participant feedback: Participants generally reported feelings of enjoyment and cooperation under low jitter conditions, while high jitter conditions were associated with frustration.

• Limitations and future directions

  1. Limitations: The network disturbances controlled in the experiment were relatively simple, and the simulated conditions may not fully reflect the complexity of real-world network environments. Additionally, participants were predominantly young design and technology students, which may limit the generalizability of the results.
  2. Future directions:
     • Validate the potential of remote interpersonal synchronization in more real-world scenarios.
     • Explore the effects of other types of network noise (e.g., packet loss) on synchronization behavior.
     • Further optimize the remote synchronization experience by improving algorithms and design parameters.
     • Expand the experimental sample to include a broader demographic, such as participants from different age groups and technical backgrounds.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates the feasibility of remote interpersonal motor synchronization and reveals the significant impact of network noise on synchronization and its social effects. The research not only advances the understanding of synchronized behavior but also identifies key directions for the design and optimization of future remote interaction, providing an important foundation for improving remote collaboration, gaming, and social experiences.