"Picture the Audience...": Exploring Private AR Face Filters for Online Public Speaking

Title of the Paper

“Picture the Audience... ”: Exploring Private AR Face Filters for Online Public Speaking

Paper Information

• Subject Area: Augmented Reality (AR), Fear of Public Speaking (FOPS) Management, Psychological Interventions in Video Conferencing
• Keywords: Augmented Reality, Face Filters, Public Speaking, Communication Skills, Video Conferencing, Self-Perception

Research Background and Problem

• What problems or challenges did the authors identify?

  • Fear of Public Speaking (FOPS) is one of the most common social anxieties, with many individuals experiencing significant anxiety in formal speaking or social scenarios.
  • With the rise of video conferencing, the pressure and fear of speaking in virtual environments persist, and there is a lack of technological tools to help speakers alleviate anxiety in real-time.
  • Traditional advice such as “imagine the audience in their underwear” is often considered unprofessional or ineffective, with no formal research supporting it.

• Why is this problem important?

  • Strong communication skills are crucial for career development and personal life, but FOPS can hinder the development of these skills.
  • Video conferencing has become a primary medium for speaking and communication, yet psychological support tools tailored for these scenarios remain limited.

• Research Motivation and Related Work

  • To explore whether augmented reality (AR) technology can alleviate public speaking anxiety by altering the speaker's visual perception of themselves and their audience.
  • Building on prior work on technological interventions (e.g., VR, virtual agents, real-time feedback), the study aims to propose a more immediate and personalized solution.

Solution

• What methods or solutions did the authors propose?

  • The concept of “Private AR Filters,” which are filter effects visible only to the speaker, applied to their own video stream or that of other participants.
  • These filters aim to reduce speaking anxiety by altering the speaker's visual perception of themselves and their audience.

• What is innovative about this solution?

  • This is the first exploration of private AR filters in the context of public speaking, distinct from currently available public and shared AR filters.
  • It provides real-time psychological intervention with flexibility for highly personalized scenarios.

• What are the implementation steps and key technologies used?

  1. User Survey:
     • Conducted an online questionnaire with 100 participants to gather attitudes, application scenarios, and acceptance levels of private AR filters.
  2. Prototype Development:
     • Developed a web-based video conferencing application called “Masquerade,” which allows users to privately apply AR filters to themselves or others.
  3. Experimental Testing:
     • Recruited 16 individuals with FOPS to perform simulated speaking tasks within the application, collecting feedback through surveys and semi-structured interviews.
  4. Technical Implementation:
     • Built the video conferencing platform using NodeJS and DeepAR SDK, focusing on integrating filter management functionality.
  5. Data Collection and Analysis:
     • Analyzed user behavior, speaking state anxiety data (SUDS scores), user experience, and interview feedback.

Research Findings

• What specific findings were achieved?

  • The survey revealed that while the concept of “private AR filters” is somewhat controversial, about one-third of participants felt comfortable applying filters to themselves or others.
  • In the demonstration experiment, filter selection was influenced by factors such as material appeal, audience friendliness, and the speaker's anxiety level.
  • Private AR filters were found to help highly anxious individuals reduce tension, but for less anxious individuals, they sometimes increased discomfort.

• What advantages does this solution have compared to existing ones?

  • Unlike traditional public AR filters, private AR filters offer speakers control over their visual experience and personalized interventions.
  • They do not rely on third-party virtual agents or training processes and can be applied directly during real-time video conferencing to alleviate anxiety.

• What were the experimental or evaluation results?

  • The experiment found that certain filters (e.g., animal-themed filters) helped mask audience expressions and reactions, thereby reducing speaking pressure.
  • Highly anxious individuals preferred filters that obscured themselves or the audience, while less anxious individuals preferred maintaining visual clarity to monitor the scene.
  • Strategies focused on humorizing the scene and reducing distractions were most effective.

• Limitations and Future Directions

  • Limitations:
    • The survey and experiment sample sizes were relatively small, involving only 100 survey participants and 16 experimental participants.
    • The range of filters was limited, and the potential of customizable filters was not deeply explored.
    • The study relied solely on self-reported data without incorporating psychophysiological measurements.
  • Future Directions:
    • Conduct more systematic experiments to quantify the impact on anxiety reduction.
    • Perform long-term studies on the effects of filter usage and their adaptability across different populations.
    • Explore the application of AR filters in other video conferencing scenarios or specific populations (e.g., individuals with chronic anxiety or social phobia).
    • Investigate the integration of AR filters with VR/AR headsets to expand technological possibilities.

This study provides a novel perspective on using augmented reality to alleviate public speaking anxiety in the digital age, particularly by creating personalized psychological support tools through real-time visual perception modification.