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Facial Identification at a Virtual Reality Airport

Tummon, Hannah M., Allen, John, Bindemann, Markus (2019) Facial Identification at a Virtual Reality Airport. i-Perception, 10 (4). ISSN 2041-6695. (doi:10.1177/2041669519863077) (KAR id:76037)

Abstract

Person identification at airports requires the comparison of a passport photograph with its bearer. In psychology, this process is typically studied with static pairs of face photographs that require identity-match (same person shown) versus mismatch (two different people) decisions, but this approach provides a limited proxy for studying how environment and social interaction factors affect this task. In this study, we explore the feasibility of virtual reality (VR) as a solution to this problem, by examining the identity matching of avatars in a VR airport. We show that facial photographs of real people can be rendered into VR avatars in a manner that preserves image and identity information (Experiments 1 to 3). We then show that identity matching of avatar pairs reflects similar cognitive processes to the matching of face photographs (Experiments 4 and 5). This pattern holds when avatar matching is assessed in a VR airport (Experiments 6 and 7). These findings demonstrate the feasibility of VR as a new method for investigating face matching in complex environments.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1177/2041669519863077
Uncontrolled keywords: face, person, identification, matching, virtual reality, passport, airport
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Markus Bindemann
Date Deposited: 30 Aug 2019 09:29 UTC
Last Modified: 05 Nov 2024 12:40 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/76037 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Tummon, Hannah M..

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Allen, John.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Bindemann, Markus.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9608-4186
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