Investigating proxemics behaviors towards individuals, pairs, and groups in virtual reality

The proxemics theory explains the consistent social boundaries surrounding individuals as reported (Hall in The Hidden Dimension, Doubleday, Garden City, 1966), yet little is known about the social boundaries surrounding pairs or groups of people. The current study explored interpersonal proxemics behavior in a virtual environment, focusing on distances maintained towards individual pedestrians, pairs, and groups. Using virtual reality to simulate a city center, participants freely navigated it while their movements and gazes were captured. Importantly, the city was populated by pedestrians in different social configurations. Eye movements identified interactions defined by gaze-onsets towards a pedestrian’s head. Our results indicate that participants approached individuals with a median distance of 3.18 unity units aligned with the social space boundary as reported (Hall in The Hidden Dimension, Doubleday, Garden City, 1966). Distances kept from pairs and groups were similarly centered within the social space, revealing no significant difference in approaching behavior across different social configurations. The consistency in approaching distances suggests that personal and social spaces are not substantially altered, irrespective of the social context.