The high-speed, smooth working of everyday interaction essentially depends on the accompanying gamut of multimodal cues, including gaze, head and torso movement, facial expression, gesture, etc.

In Research Area 1, we systematically assess the timing and synchronization of multimodal cues in face-to-face interaction and look at both intrapersonal (within an individual) and interpersonal (between interlocutors) synchrony. Interpersonal synchrony (or alignment) has been argued to enhance empathy, rapport, and cooperation, supporting the notion that getting the balance right seems instrumental to communicative success. Interlocutors, moreover, seem exquisitely sensitive to the timing of cues, and there is an important role for routinization in the use of multimodal cues. Yet routines may be different for different populations of languages users (with different cognitive styles, in different situations, and with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds). Understanding differences in the finetuning of turn-timing and cue coordination in face-to-face interaction thus has important implications for the conception of successful communication.