BReA: Potentials of combining reality and virtual communications using a blended reality agent

This paper proposes a blended reality agent, called BReA, whose body presents and transfers itself between real and virtual environments. BReA can communicate with people through not only real-world communication but also virtual communication. Recent research studies have shown the merits and demerits of communication with robotic agents under a real-world environment, and on-screen agents in a virtual world. BReA, whose body can be located in both real and virtual worlds, possesses the merits of both robotic and on-screen agents. In addition, the feature through which BReA communicates with people in real and virtual environments allows users to acknowledge real-world objects based on its references from a virtual environment. We conducted a field test in a supermarket to confirm whether customers can engage themselves in communication with BReA. An analysis of the consumer reactions confirmed that customers definitely recognized that the directions of the pointing gestures performed by BReA in a virtual environment were oriented outside of the display. Moreover, we observed some customers approaching closer to BReA as it transferred from a real environment into a virtual world. These results demonstrated that BReA succeeds in immersing customers in its presentation.