摘要：Background. Modern technologies provide a wide range of opportunities for studyingdifferent types of social processes and phenomena. Currently many original social studieshave been done with the use of virtual reality technologies. The effectiveness of theirapplication has been shown for the study of verbal and nonverbal communication; theprocesses of ethno-cultural identity; and for teaching social skills, as well as correctingsocial anxiety and ethnic attitudes. One of the very real question concerning spatial behaviorduring communication with partners from other ethnic groups, however, has notbeen studied very much.Objective. In our study we explored proxemic behavior in subjects’ face-to-face interactionswith avatars of in-group and out-group ethnic appearance. Using the CAVEvirtual reality system, we studied preferred interpersonal distances in carrying out memorytasks during interaction with the avatars.Design. Three virtual environments with avatars of different ethnic appearance weredeveloped. Each virtual scene represented a room where three avatars of the same ethnicitywere standing. Their appearance was associable with one of three ethnic groups–the Slavic, North Caucasian, or the Central Asian. The participants (all of whom identifiedthemselves as Russians) were immersed in the virtual scenes with the help of theCAVE virtual reality system. They were instructed to keep in mind as many details of theavatars’ appearance as they could.During the task’s execution the interpersonal distances between the participants andthe avatars were registered. After leaving the CAVE, the participants were asked to answerquestions about the details of avatars’ appearance, and to fill out a questionnaireassessing the Presence Effect in virtual environments. The identification accuracy of theavatars’ appearance details and the Presence effect were measured. The interpersonal distanceswere analyzed for the area around the direction of mutual gaze.Results. The results showed that participants preferred to keep closer interpersonaldistances from the avatars of the same ethnic group as their own. During interactionwith avatars belonging to another ethnic group, significantly larger interpersonal distanceswere preferred. A significant correlation between the interpersonal distance andthe Presence Effect was also revealed.
