Deepfake technologies are powerful tools that can be misused for malicious purposes such as spreading disinformation on social media. The effectiveness of such malicious applications depends on the ability of deepfakes to deceive their audience. Therefore, researchers have investigated human abilities to detect deepfakes in various studies. However, most of these studies were conducted with participants who focused exclusively on the detection task; hence the studies may not provide a complete picture of human abilities to detect deepfakes under realistic conditions: Social media users are exposed to cognitive load on the platform, which can impair their detection abilities. In this paper, we investigate the influence of cognitive load on human detection abilities of voice-based deepfakes in an empirical study with 30 participants. Our results suggest that low cognitive load does not generally impair detection abilities, and that the simultaneous exposure to a secondary stimulus can actually benefit people in the detection task.

Engaging in rhythmic synchronized activities such as dancing or coordinated exercises is a powerful driver of social connection, as interpersonal entrainment promotes feelings of closeness, empathy, and cooperation. However, in media-based settings such as Social Virtual Reality (SVR), maintaining synchrony is technically challenging. Even modest latency can disrupt the temporal coordination needed for shared rhythm, thereby diminishing social presence, user engagement and the quality of interaction. Our work explores whether synchrony-reinforcing feedback can mitigate latency effects in a dyadic VR rowing task. Participants received real-time visual, audio, or audio-visual feedback: visual feedback was provided through particle effects, and audio feedback through music, both of which intensified with stronger synchronization and diminished as it weakened. Latency was systematically varied. Our findings show that latency, especially higher delays, significantly disrupts coordination and a sense of togetherness. Participants often misattribute these disruptions to personal or interpersonal factors. Audio-visual feedback reduces these effects, supporting smoother interaction and masking symptoms of latency. The task load remains stable across latency levels, but decreases when clear, multimodal feedback is provided. Notably, while closeness remains robust, togetherness deteriorates in the absence of timely, multimodal cues. Our results suggest that latency effects can be partially addressed through perceptual design. Providing multimodal feedback is a key strategy for maintaining synchrony, reducing cognitive effort, and sustaining meaningful social interaction in latency-prone environments.

Shared synchronised activities, such as dancing and singing, can promote social bonding in both physical and virtual settings, but are susceptible to network latencies in mediated environments, such as social virtual reality (VR). Temporal delays can hinder interpersonal entrainment, causing users to feel out of sync, and reduce presence. While prior work has examined how stimulus type and frequency affect synchrony perception, the role of rhythmic interaction, central to many interactive synchronised experiences, remains unexplored. We conducted a within-subject study with 32 participants to systematically investigate how rhythmic interaction shapes synchrony perception of rhythmic audiovisual stimuli in networked VR environments. Motor behaviour and subjective synchrony ratings ($\mathrm{n}=32$) are analysed, complemented by eye-tracking metrics from a quality-controlled subset ($\mathrm{n}=25$). Through controlled stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) between audio and video stimuli, we simulate network latency scenarios wshere (1) audio precedes video (as in VR dance environments where music playback is synchronised to a global clock while remote dancer movements appear delayed), and (2) video precedes audio (as in orchestra experiences where a conductor's movements are perceived first, followed by a delayed auditory response from the orchestra). Participants either synchronised hand movements with a virtual avatar or passively observed it across two stimulus frequencies (0.5 Hz and 1 Hz), for both audio- and video-leading offsets. Our results show that rhythmic interaction significantly increases tolerance to audiovisual offsets, shifting the left decision criterion (LDC) by up to 66 ms, the point of subjective synchrony (PSS) by up to 31 ms, and widening the window of subjective synchrony (WSS) by up to 59 ms. These effects suggest that rhythmic interaction can reduce sensitivity to asynchronies in audio-leading scenarios, such as VR dance environments. We also found that temporal offsets influence rhythmic interaction behaviour and confirm that recent findings on the influence of stimulus frequency on PSS and temporal offsets on pupil dilation can to a certain extent be replicated in interactive VR.

How could an envisioned voice-based conversational information system assist the information seeker when the seeker does not know how to continue the conversation? The system could explicitly suggest a question to ask after each of its responses, but this approach quickly feels restrictive, repetitive, and interrupts immersion in the conversation. In this paper, we explore, for the first time, unobtrusive syntactic and auditive modifications of oral system responses to nudge information seekers towards asking about specific topics. We report the results of a crowdsourcing study with 965 participations that investigated the effectiveness and drawbacks of different modifications in three information scenarios.

Looking at nothing has recently become of particular interest as it may reveal insights into the nature of spatial cognition in terms of integrated mental representations from visual and auditory input. The current study applies individual time sensitive and emotional ideas to quantify visuo-spatial biases in a stimulus-free laboratory setting. We observe a strong visual bias across all experimental conditions supporting earlier assumptions of a screen center or motor bias. The tendency towards the center was particular evident during trials that lack any specific assignment. A time-sensitive differentiation of eye movements with regards to memory and anticipation tasks could not be recorded. Also, pupil diameter indicated no relationship between changes in bodily arousal and spontaneous fixation behavior. In addition, we replicate a strong left side gaze asymmetry that is interwoven with the center bias featuring spontaneous fixations to mainly cluster left from the screen center.

We present TempoWatch, a wearable smartwatch-based interface designed to allow dance instructors to control music playback and tempo directly on their wrist via touch gestures using a circular watch display. Dance instructors have unique requirements with respect to music playback in their classes, in particular the ability to stay in position while controlling the playback, and to change speed via time-stretching. However, common stereo decks and mobile music player apps do not support these requirements well. We present the design and architecture of our system, and a qualitative evaluation performed with 9 semi-professional instructors in their own dance classes. Dance instructors were involved in this project from the very beginning to match the system and interface design to its prospective use cases. Results show that instructors are able to use TempoWatch productively after only a short learning phase.

Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials (SSVEP) constitute an established approach to operate a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). In contrast to stimulation between 13 and 17 Hz, stimulation above 30 Hz is considered less annoying and diminishes the risk of epileptic seizures. However, high-frequency BCIs usually feature slow processing speed and accuracy rates which reduces user satisfaction. We investigate the re-test stability of resonance frequencies between 30 and 50 Hz in 18 participants over a period of 40 days, including seven consecutive runs. Aim is to determine individual resonance profiles for recurring BCI usage that make time-consuming calibration phases no longer necessary. Preliminary findings of a clinical sample are reported as well. Results indicate that seven of nine frequencies fail to repeatedly induce stable responses. However, stimulation with 32 and 40 Hz induced strong and recurring SSVEP in the vast majorities of trials. Consequently, high-frequency based BCI usage will continue to presuppose individual calibration. Apart from this, since 40 Hz oscillations are suggested to play a key role in various brain functions, it is reasonable to assume pronounced cortical reactions to 32 Hz to also constitute a neuronal oscillator that is functional active during cognitive processing.

Physiological responses are generally involuntary; however, real-time feedback enables, at least to a certain extent, to voluntary control automatic processes. Recently, it was demonstrated that even pupil dilation is subject to controlled interference. To address effects of training on the ability to exercise control on pupil dilation, the current study examines repeated exercise over seven successive days. Participants utilize self-induced changes in arousal to increase pupil diameter, real-time feedback was applied to evaluate and improve individual performance. We observe inter-individual differences with regard to responsiveness of the pupillary response: six of eight participants considerably increase pupil diameter already during the first session, two exhibit only slight changes, and all showed rather stable performance throughout training. There was a trend towards stronger peak amplitudes that tend to occur increasingly early across time. Hence, higher cognitive control on pupil dilations can be practiced by most users and may therefore provide an appropriate input mechanism in human-computer interaction.