title: Dynamic similarity promotes interpersonal coordination in joint action.
abstract: Human movement has been studied for decades, and dynamic laws of motion that are common to all humans have been derived. Yet, every individual moves differently from everyone else (faster/slower, harder/smoother, etc.). We propose here an index of such variability, namely an individual motor signature (IMS) able to capture the subtle differences in the way each of us moves. We show that the IMS of a person is time-invariant and that it significantly differs from those of other individuals. This allows us to quantify the dynamic similarity, a measure of rapport between dynamics of different individuals' movements, and demonstrate that it facilitates coordination during interaction. We use our measure to confirm a key prediction of the theory of similarity that coordination between two individuals performing a joint-action task is higher if their motions share similar dynamic features. Furthermore, we use a virtual avatar driven by an interactive cognitive architecture based on feedback control theory to explore the effects of different kinematic features of the avatar motion on coordination with human players.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Słowiński
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Merchant Venturers' Building, Bristol BS8 1UB, UK.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Merchant Venturers' Building, Bristol BS8 1UB, UK.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alderisio
authors.affiliation: EuroMov, Montpellier University, 700 Avenue du Pic Saint-Loup, 34090 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salesse
authors.affiliation: EuroMov, Montpellier University, 700 Avenue du Pic Saint-Loup, 34090 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gueugnon
authors.affiliation: EuroMov, Montpellier University, 700 Avenue du Pic Saint-Loup, 34090 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Ludovic
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marin
authors.affiliation: EuroMov, Montpellier University, 700 Avenue du Pic Saint-Loup, 34090 Montpellier, France Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Benoit G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Bardy
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Merchant Venturers' Building, Bristol BS8 1UB, UK Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: di Bernardo
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK k.tsaneva-atanasova@exeter.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Krasimira
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsaneva-Atanasova
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007596:Joints / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: mathematical modelling; movement dynamics; statistical analysis