If you’ve felt exhausted or burned out after a Zoom video conferencing for work or social life, you’re not alone.
The frustration and mental drain, in part, can be connected to trying to catch subtle cues during conversations over Zoom, in the face of internet lag time, according to a new University of Michigan study.
Conversations have a transition time between speakers averaging about 200 milliseconds. Because this is fast, the listener has to comprehend the speaker, plan his response, and predict when he can cut in, simultaneously, said Julie Boland, professor of psychology and linguistics.
Brainwaves, or neural oscillators, may automate a part of this, by synching the two speakers on syllable rate, to help with the timing.
“Oscillators can tolerate a certain amount of deviation (in syllable rate), without desyncing, which is necessary to handle the fuzzy rhythms of speech,” said Boland, the study’s lead author. “However, the variable electronic transmission delays in videoconferencing are probably sufficient to destabilize these oscillators.”
Read the full article by Michigan News
Read the study abstract: Zoom disrupts the rhythm of conversation
