Avatar-driven self-disclosure: The virtual me is the actual me

Considering the importance of self-disclosure in building relationships and bonds, it is vital to investigate how self-disclosure is affected by avatars utilized in many online communities. In this study, we tested a research model that explores how perceived avatar-self similarity affects self-disclosure via different theoretical constructs such as self-awareness, self-presence, and identifiability. The research model was empirically tested with data from a web-based survey of 209 Second Life users. Results revealed that avatar similarity impacts self-disclosure but with varying effects, depending on how it is mediated by variables of identifiability, self-awareness and self-presence. Specifically, appearance similarity affects homophily, which heightens self-awareness. This results in increased feelings of self-presence, which positively affects self-disclosure. Homophily also has the effect of heightening perceptions of identifiability, which decreases self-disclosure. Implications and applications are discussed.     

On generating realistic avatars: dress in your own style

The use of 3D avatars is becoming more frequent with the development of computer technology and the internet. To meet users?? requirements, some software or programs have allowed users to customize the avatar. However, users are only able to customize the avatar using the pre-defined accessories such as hair, clothing and so on. That is, users have limited chance to customize the avatar according to their own styles. It will be of interest to users if they are able to change the appearance of the avatar by their own design, such as creating garments for avatars themselves. This paper provides an easy solution to dressing realistic 3D avatars for non-professional users based on a sketch interface. After a user drawing a 2D garment profile around the avatar, the prototype system can generate an elaborate 3D geometric garment surface dressed on the avatar. The construction of the garment surface is constrained by key body features. And the garment shape is then optimized to remove artefacts. The proposed method can generate a uniform mesh for processing such as mesh refinement, 3D decoration and so on.     

A cognitive map-driven avatar design recommendation DSS and its empirical validity

With the advent of the Internet era and the maturation of electronic commerce, strategic avatar design has become an important way of keeping up with market changes and customer tastes. In this study, we propose a new DSS for an adaptive avatar design that uses a cognitive map (CM) as a what-if simulation vehicle. The main virtue of the proposed avatar design recommendation DSS (abbreviated as ADR-DSS) is its ability to change specific avatar design features with objective consideration of the subsequent effects upon other design features, thereby enhancing user satisfaction. An avatar represents a user's self-identity and desire for self-disclosure. Therefore, the claim is made that there is a relationship between the characteristics of avatar design features and the choice of avatar. The considerations in this study are props (garments, facial expression, and miscellaneous) and subjective judgments (self-image and user satisfaction). The results of both brainstorming and focus group interviews with a group of avatar experts were used to objectively organize the CM. All the experts who participated are currently working in developing and designing avatar features in portal websites. Incorporating the CM as a model base, the proposed ADR-DSS was implemented, and two scenarios were presented for illustration. To prove the validity of the ADR-DSS, a rigorous survey was performed, obtaining statistically significant results.     

Choose your “buddy icon” carefully: The influence of avatar androgyny, anthropomorphism and credibility in online interactions

In both online and offline interactions, the visual representation of people influences how others perceive them. In contrast to the offline body, an online visual representation of a person is consciously chosen and not stable. This paper reports the results of a 2 step examination of the influence of avatars on the person perception process. Specifically, this project examines the reliance on visual characteristics during the online perception process, and the relative influence of androgyny, anthropomorphism and credibility. In the first step, 255 participants fill out a survey where they rated a set of 30 static avatars on their credibility, androgyny, and anthropomorphism. The second step is a between subjects experiment with 230 participants who interact with partners represented by one of eight avatars (high and low androgyny, and anthropomorphism by high and low credibility). Results show that the characteristics of the avatar are used in the person perception process. Causal modeling techniques revealed that perceptions of avatar androgyny influence perceptions of anthropomorphism, which influences attributions of both avatar and partner credibility. Implications of these results for theory, future research, and users and designers of systems using avatars are discussed.     

Avatars in social media: Balancing accuracy,playfulness and embodied messages

This paper examines how users negotiate their self-presentation via an avatar used in social media. Twenty participants customised an avatar while thinking aloud. An analysis of this verbal data revealed three motivating factors that drive self-presentation: (1) avatars were used to accurately reflect their owners’ offline self; participants chose to display stable self-attributes or idealised their avatar by concealing or emphasising attributes aligned to imagined social roles, (2) the diversity of customisation options was exploited by some participants who broke free from the social rules governing self-presentation offline; others used the avatar's appearance to emotionally provoke and engage the avatar viewer and finally, (3) avatars were used as proxies; participants designed their online self in order to convey a message to a significant other.     

Me,myself and I: The role of interactional context on self-presentation through avatars

This paper investigates whether the nature of an online environment can prime users to create avatars that emphasize particular characteristics. Participants created an avatar for one of three contrasting settings: blogging, dating or gaming. For the most part, avatars in blogging were created to accurately reflect their owners’ physical appearance, lifestyle and preferences. By contrast, participants in the dating and gaming treatments accentuated certain aspects of their avatar to reflect the tone and perceived expectations of the context. For instance, avatars in dating were made to look more attractive while avatars in gaming were made to look more intellectual. Yet, predominantly, these emphasized avatar attributes drew on participants’ self-image, and thus avatars were perceived by their owners as highly similar to themselves. The implications of these results are discussed against current frameworks of online identity and behavior. Most importantly, we use our results to extract design recommendations for improving avatar-driven applications.     

Deception in avatar-mediated virtual environment

This study explored the effects of avatars on deception – how perceived avatar likeness to self can affect the truthfulness and accuracy of interactions online. More specifically, this study examined the extent to which perceived avatar similarity influences self-awareness and users’ degree of attraction to them, and how these psychological states affect deception in the context of Second Life. The results, based on web-based survey data of 159 Second Life users, revealed that avatar similarity in attitude and behavior to the owner heightened self-awareness, which, in turn, reduced deception. Perceived avatar similarity in terms of appearance was found to have a direct negative impact on deception so that those who perceived their avatars to look similar to themselves were less likely to engage in deceptive behavior. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Fully Embodied Conversational Avatars: Making Communicative Behaviors Autonomous

Although avatars may resemble communicative interface agents, they have for the most part not profited from recent research into autonomous embodied conversational systems. In particular, even though avatars function within conversational environments (for example, chat or games), and even though they often resemble humans (with a head, hands, and a body) they are incapable of representing the kinds of knowledge that humans have about how to use the body during communication. Humans, however, do make extensive use of the visual channel for interaction management where many subtle and even involuntary cues are read from stance, gaze, and gesture. We argue that the modeling and animation of such fundamental behavior is crucial for the credibility and effectiveness of the virtual interaction in chat. By treating the avatar as a communicative agent, we propose a method to automate the animation of important communicative behavior, deriving from work in conversation and discourse theory. BodyChat is a system that allows users to communicate via text while their avatars automatically animate attention, salutations, turn taking, back-channel feedback, and facial expression. An evaluation shows that users found an avatar with autonomous conversational behaviors to be more natural than avatars whose behaviors they controlled, and to increase the perceived expressiveness of the conversation. Interestingly, users also felt that avatars with autonomous communicative behaviors provided a greater sense of user control.     

The Influence of the Avatar on Online Perceptions of Anthropomorphism, Androgyny, Credibility, Homophily, and Attraction

It has become increasingly common for Web sites and computer media to provide computer generated visual images, called avatars, to represent users and bots during online interactions. In this study, participants (N = 255) evaluated a series of avatars in a static context in terms of their androgyny, anthropomorphism, credibility, homophily, attraction, and the likelihood they would choose them during an interaction. The responses to the images were consistent with what would be predicted by uncertainty reduction theory. The results show that the masculinity or femininity (lack of androgyny) of an avatar, as well as anthropomorphism, significantly influence perceptions of avatars. Further, more anthropomorphic avatars were perceived to be more attractive and credible, and people were more likely to choose to be represented by them. Participants reported masculine avatars as less attractive than feminine avatars, and most people reported a preference for human avatars that matched their gender. Practical and theoretical implications of these results for users, designers, and researchers of avatars are discussed.     

Homuncular Flexibility in Virtual Reality

Immersive virtual reality allows people to inhabit avatar bodies that differ from their own, and this can produce significant psychological and physiological effects. The concept of homuncular flexibility (Lanier, 2006) proposes that users can learn to control bodies different from their own by changing the relationship between tracked and rendered motion. We examine the effects of remapping movements in the real world onto an avatar that moves in novel ways. In Experiment 1, participants moved their legs more than their arms in conditions where leg movements were more effective for the task. In Experiment 2, participants controlling 3‐armed avatars learned to hit more targets than participants in 2‐armed avatars. We discuss the implications of embodiment in novel bodies.     

Player see,player do: Testing an exergame motivation model based on the influence of the self avatar

While the benefits of physically immersive video games, or exergames, have witnessed much research attention, less is known about the psychosocial processes that enable exergames to be an effective digital tool. An increasing number of exergames feature in-game graphical representations (avatars) of players and, and research shows that these avatars have the potential to influence self-perceptions. This study proposes an exergame motivation model based on the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) that explores the impact of avatars on exergame players. The SCT suggests that individuals can learn through an enactive experience, and exergames appear to offer this form of learning through the presence of the player's in-game graphical representation (self avatar). 322 participants played an exergame for six sessions that feature self avatars. Structural equation modeling (SEM) results showed a good fit for the proposed exergame motivation model. Through the presence and behavior of the player's self avatar, the player learns by experiencing for himself/herself the results and consequences of his/her behavior within the exergame as he/she identifies with the character. Enjoyment was also found to partially mediate the relationship between identification with the avatar and exergame intention. The proposed exergame motivation model is likely to contribute to a deeper understanding of avatar and exergame effects and inform future research on health gaming interventions.     

Exploring the Effect of Avatar Trust on Learners’ Perceived Participation Intentions in an e-Learning Environment

With continued advancements in Web technology, e-learning systems have emerged as an effective venue in which learners can interact with online contents and they are often equipped with avatar instructors in lieu of human instructors. In this case, avatar trust, the learners’ perceived trust in the avatar instructor, plays an important role in learners’ perceived intentions to participate in the e-learning activities. We assumed that social presence positively affects participation intention (PI) through avatar trust. The main purpose of this study is to empirically validate this hypothesis. Using two types of avatars as a moderating factor, our hypothesis was tested against 200 valid questionnaires. We found that social presence had a statistically significant influence on perceived PI through avatar trust, and that an attractive avatar type sheds stronger moderating effect on paths between social presence and avatar trust, and path between trust and participation than does an expert avatar type.     

Impact of similarity between avatar and their users on their perceived identifiability: Evidence from virtual teams in Second Life platform

Research on the application of avatars in the virtual teams is growing. In this study, we examined the effect of perceived similarity of an avatar user with his/her avatar on the perceptions of his/her identifiability within a virtual team. The study utilized a sample of 124 users actively involved in Second Life, a virtual world platform. Results of structural equation modeling utilizing the partial least squares method corroborate the hypothesis. An important contribution of this research is to inform practitioners about the critical role that users’ similarity with the avatar plays in enhancing their identifiability. We draw conclusions based on the result and identify some important avenues for future research.     

Computer agents versus avatars: Responses to interactive game characters controlled by a computer or other player

Computer and videogames often require that users interact with other characters on the screen that represent other real people or characters that are controlled by computer code running within the game. The difference between game play with other avatars (player-controlled characters) or agents (characters controlled by the computer) may influence the engagement a game player experiences. This study investigated the effects of agency (avatar versus agent) and the type of gaming activity (competition versus cooperation) on physiological arousal and subjective evaluation of play. A 2 (avatar, agent)×2 (competition, cooperation) within-subject experiment was conducted (N=32). Players exhibited greater physiological arousal to otherwise identical interactions when other characters were introduced as an avatar rather than an agent. Furthermore, the co-player's source of agency interacted with the type of gaming activity. The results have implications for understanding how different forms of representation in virtual worlds and games will affect psychological responses in the contexts of entertainment, learning and the conduct of serious work.     

Understanding emotional bond between the creator and the avatar: Change in behavioral intentions to engage in alcohol-related traffic risk behaviors

This study examines the joint impact of an individual's relationship with his or her avatar and negative consequences to the avatar on changing the individual's behavioral intentions (BI) in terms of alcohol-impaired driving. One hundred eleven participants volunteered to participate in several experimental conditions where the degree of choice of avatar features and the degree of control of the avatar's actions were manipulated in Second Life, an immersive 3D virtual environment. Participants who were allowed to customize their avatars viewed their avatars not only more similar but also emotionally closer to themselves, and perceived their avatars to be physically more attractive than those who were assigned basic avatars. After observing a car crash caused by drunk driving, participants in the choice and control condition were more likely to change BI positively when they identified their avatars to be similar to themselves, and regarded their avatars more attractive. Furthermore, participants who were allowed to control their avatars were more likely to attribute the responsibility of the car accident to themselves than those who observed someone else's avatar playing. Implications for the use of virtual reality games in promoting healthy behaviors are discussed in detail.     

I Am What I See: How Avatar and Opponent Agent Body Size Affects Physical Activity Among Men Playing Exergames

This study examined how avatar body size (normal, obese) and opponent character body size (normal, obese) influenced physical activity while male participants played an exergame. Males operating normal weight avatars showed more physical activity than those using obese avatars. Perceived avatar and opponent character body‐size differences moderated the effect of avatar appearance on physical activity. Participants showed decreased physical activity when the opponent character was perceived as slightly more obese than their avatar. Participants also showed decreased physical activity when their avatar was perceived as more obese than the opponent character. We discuss theoretical implications and applications of using virtual characters to increase gamers' physical activity. These findings are also compared to an earlier study with an all‐female sample.     

Emotional facial expressions in synthesised sign language avatars: a manual evaluation

This research explores and evaluates the contribution that facial expressions might have regarding improved comprehension and acceptability in sign language avatars. Focusing specifically on Irish sign language (ISL), the Deaf (the uppercase “D” in the word “Deaf” indicates Deaf as a culture as opposed to “deaf” as a medical condition) community’s responsiveness to sign language avatars is examined. The hypothesis of this is as follows: augmenting an existing avatar with the seven widely accepted universal emotions identified by Ekman (Basic emotions: handbook of cognition and emotion. Wiley, London, 2005) to achieve underlying facial expressions will make that avatar more human like and improve usability and understandability for the ISL user. Using human evaluation methods (Huenerfauth et al. in Trans Access Comput (ACM) 1:1, 2008), an augmented set of avatar utterances is compared against a baseline set, focusing on two key areas: comprehension and naturalness of facial configuration. The approach to the evaluation including the choice of ISL participants, interview environment and evaluation methodology is then outlined. The evaluation results reveal that in a comprehension test there was little difference between the baseline avatars and those augmented with emotional facial expression. It was also found that the avatars are lacking various linguistic attributes.     

Privacy,trust and control: Which relationships with online self-disclosure?

A number of studies have examined the relationship between privacy concerns, perceived control over information, trust and online self-disclosure, highlighting different points of view to understand this connection. This paper intends to compare these different models of explanation for self-disclosure behaviors in online social networks. Three different hypotheses are verified, using mediation and moderation analyses. The results allow underling the effect of the interaction between privacy concerns and trust on online self-disclosure, along with the absence of a direct influence of privacy concerns on disclosure itself. The results suggest practical implications for online social network providers, most of all with regard to privacy policies in online environments.     

“It doesn’t matter what you are!” Explaining social effects of agents and avatars

Empirical studies have repeatedly shown that autonomous artificial entities, so-called embodied conversational agents, elicit social behavior on the part of the human interlocutor. Various theoretical approaches have tried to explain this phenomenon: According to the Threshold Model of Social Influence (Blascovich et al., 2002), the social influence of real persons who are represented by avatars will always be high, whereas the influence of an artificial entity depends on the realism of its behavior. Conversely, the Ethopoeia concept (Nass & Moon, 2000) predicts that automatic social reactions are triggered by situations as soon as they include social cues. The presented study evaluates whether participants´ belief in interacting with either an avatar (a virtual representation of a human) or an agent (autonomous virtual person) lead to different social effects. We used a 2 × 2 design with two levels of agency (agent or avatar) and two levels of behavioral realism (showing feedback behavior versus showing no behavior). We found that the belief of interacting with either an avatar or an agent barely resulted in differences with regard to the evaluation of the virtual character or behavioral reactions, whereas higher behavioral realism affected both. It is discussed to what extent the results thus support the Ethopoeia concept.     

The impact of avatar realism and anonymity on effective communication via mobile devices

This research investigates the impact on social communication quality of using anonymous avatars during small-screen mobile audio/visual communications. Elements of behavioral and visual realism of avatars are defined, as is an elaborated three-component measure of communication quality called Social Copresence. Experimental results with 196 participants participating in a social interaction using a simulated mobile device with varied levels of avatar visual and behavioral realism showed higher levels of avatar Kinetic Conformity and Fidelity produced increased perceived Social Richness of Medium, while higher avatar Anthropomorphism produced higher levels of Psychological Copresence and Interactant Satisfaction with Communication. Increased levels of avatar Anonymity produced decreases in Social Copresence, but these were smaller when avatars possessed higher levels of visual and behavioral realism.