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The effect of avatar realism in immersive social virtual realities

Authors:

Marc Erich Latoschik,

Jascha Achenbach,

Thomas Waltemate,

Mario BotschAuthors Info & Claims

VRST '17: Proceedings of the 23rd ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology

Article No.: 39, Pages 1 - 10

https://doi.org/10.1145/3139131.3139156

Published: 08 November 2017 Publication History

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of avatar realism on embodiment and social interactions in Virtual Reality (VR). We compared abstract avatar representations based on a wooden mannequin with high fidelity avatars generated from photogrammetry 3D scan methods. Both avatar representations were alternately applied to participating users and to the virtual counterpart in dyadic social encounters to examine the impact of avatar realism on self-embodiment and social interaction quality. Users were immersed in a virtual room via a head mounted display (HMD). Their full-body movements were tracked and mapped to respective movements of their avatars. Embodiment was induced by presenting the users' avatars to themselves in a virtual mirror. Afterwards they had to react to a non-verbal behavior of a virtual interaction partner they encountered in the virtual space. Several measures were taken to analyze the effect of the appearance of the users' avatars as well as the effect of the appearance of the others' avatars on the users. The realistic avatars were rated significantly more human-like when used as avatars for the others and evoked a stronger acceptance in terms of virtual body ownership (VBO). There also was some indication of a potential uncanny valley. Additionally, there was an indication that the appearance of the others' avatars impacts the self-perception of the users.

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https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-03-2024-0346
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Index Terms

The effect of avatar realism in immersive social virtual realities
1. Computing methodologies
  1. Artificial intelligence
    1. Computer vision
      1. Image and video acquisition
        Computational photography
  2. Computer graphics
    1. Graphics systems and interfaces
      1. Virtual reality
    2. Shape modeling
      1. Mesh geometry models
2. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
    1. Collaborative and social computing devices
  2. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Interaction paradigms
      1. Virtual reality

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Information

Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

VRST '17: Proceedings of the 23rd ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology

November 2017

437 pages

ISBN:9781450355483

DOI:10.1145/3139131

General Chairs:
Morten Fjeld
Chalmers University of Technology
,
Marco Fratarcangeli
Chalmers University of Technology
,
Daniel Sjölie
University of Gothenburg
,
Program Chairs:
Oliver Staadt
University of Rostock
,
Jonas Unger
Linköping University

Copyright © 2017 Owner/Author.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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Published: 08 November 2017

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VRST '17

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VRST '17: 23rd ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology

November 8 - 10, 2017

Gothenburg, Sweden

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https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3530439
Hwang YGupta KOck D(2025)Gotta take my avatar shopping: impacts of interactive virtual shopping in esportsInternet Research10.1108/INTR-03-2024-0346Online publication date: 14-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-03-2024-0346
Oyekoya OBaffour K(2025)Perception of head shape, texture fidelity and head orientation of the instructor’s look-alike avatarComputers & Education: X Reality10.1016/j.cexr.2024.1000916(100091)Online publication date: Jun-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cexr.2024.100091
Ogi T(2025)Psychology for Avatar CommunicationEmotional Engineering, Vol.1010.1007/978-3-031-72712-2_10(107-120)Online publication date: 10-Jan-2025
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Mal DDöllinger NWolf EWenninger SBotsch MWienrich CLatoschik M(2024)Am I the odd one? Exploring (in)congruencies in the realism of avatars and virtual others in virtual realityFrontiers in Virtual Reality10.3389/frvir.2024.14170665Online publication date: 19-Jul-2024
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