Abstract. In this paper we focus on the Personal Space (PS) as a nonverbal communication concept to build a new Human Computer Interaction. The analysis of people positions with respect to their PS gives an idea on the nature of their relationship. We propose to analyze and model the PS using Computer Vision (CV), and visualize it using Computer Graphics. For this purpose, we define the PS based on four parameters: distance between people, their face orientations, age, and gender. We automatically estimate the first two parameters from image sequences using CV technology, while the two other parameters are set manually. Finally, we calculate the two-dimensional relationship of multiple persons and visualize it as 3D contours in real-time. Our method can sense and visualize invisible and unconscious PS distributions and convey the spatial relationship of users by an intuitive visual representation. The results of this paper can be used for Human Computer Interaction in public spaces.

Abstract-In this paper we propose a mathematical model for the concept of Personal Space (PS) and apply it to simulate the non-verbal communication between agents in virtual worlds. The distance between two persons reflects the type of their relationship. Human-like autonomous virtual agents should be equipped with such capability to simulate natural interactions. We define three types of relationships; (1) stranger relationship, (2) business relationship, and (3) friendly relationship. First we model the space around an agent as a probability distribution function which reflects at each point in the space the importance of that point to the agent. The agent updates dynamically this function according to (1) his relation with the other agent, (2) his face orientation, and (3) the evolution of the relationship over time as a stranger agent may become a friend. We demonstrate the concept on a multiagent platform and show that space-aware agents exhibit better natural behavior.

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