Humans live and act in 3D space, but often work and communicate on 2D surfaces. The prevalence of online communication on 2D screens raises the issue of whether human spatial configuration affects our capabilities, social perception, and behaviors when interacting with others in 2D video chat. How do factors like location, setting, and context subtly shape our online communication, particularly in scenarios such as social support and topic-based discussions? Using Ohyay.co as a platform, we compared a normal gallery interface with a scene-based Room-type interface where participants are located in circular arrangement on screen in a social support task, and found that participants allocated attention to the group as a whole, and had pronounced self-awareness in the Room format. We then chose a two-sided topic for discussion in the Gallery interface and the Room interface where participants on each team face-off against each other, and found that they utilized spatial references to orient their allegiances, expressing greater engagement with those farther away in digital space and greater empathy with those closer, in the Room over the Gallery format. We found spatial effects in the way participants hide from the spotlight, in perspective-taking, and in their use of expressive gestures in time on the screen. This work highlights the need for considering spatial configuration in 2D in the design of collaborative communication systems to optimize for psychological needs for particular tasks.

翻译：人类在三维空间中生活与行动，却常在二维平面上工作与交流。二维屏幕在线通信的普及引发了一个问题：当人类在二维视频聊天中与他人互动时，空间配置是否会影响我们的能力、社会感知和行为？位置、环境和情境等因素如何微妙地形塑我们的在线沟通，特别是在社会支持与主题讨论等场景中？以Ohyay.co为平台，我们在社会支持任务中对比了常规画廊界面与场景式房间界面（参与者在屏幕上呈环形排列），发现参与者在房间格式中将注意力分配给整个群体，并表现出显著的自我意识。随后我们在画廊界面与房间界面中选取双向讨论主题（各团队参与者相互对峙），发现他们利用空间参照来定位自身立场：相较于画廊格式，在房间格式中参与者对数字空间距离较远的对象表现出更高参与度，对距离较近的对象则展现更强共情。研究还发现参与者在躲避焦点关注、观点采择以及屏幕实时表达手势运用等方面均存在空间效应。这项工作强调在设计协作通信系统时，需考虑二维空间配置以满足特定任务的心理需求优化。