In avatar-mediated communications, users often cannot identify how others' avatars are created, which is one of the important information they need to evaluate others. Thus, we tested a social virtual world that is transparent about others' avatar-creation methods and investigated how knowing about others' avatar-creation methods shapes users' perceptions of others and their self-disclosure. We conducted a 2x2 mixed-design experiment with system design (nontransparent vs. transparent system) as a between-subjects and avatar-creation method (customized vs. personalized avatar) as a within-subjects variable with 60 participants. The results revealed that personalized avatars in the transparent system were viewed less positively than customized avatars in the transparent system or avatars in the nontransparent system. These avatars appeared less comfortable and honest in their self-disclosure and less competent. Interestingly, avatars in the nontransparent system attracted more followers. Our results suggest being cautious when creating a social virtual world that discloses the avatar-creation process.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642568
Immersive Virtual Reality typically requires a head-mounted display (HMD) to visualize the environment and hand-held controllers to interact with the virtual objects. Recently, many applications display full-body avatars to represent the user and animate the arms to follow the controllers. Embodiment is higher when the self-avatar movements align correctly with the user. However, having a full-body self-avatar following the user's movements can be challenging due to the disparities between the virtual body and the user's body. This can lead to misalignments in the hand position that can be noticeable when interacting with virtual objects. In this work, we propose five different interaction modes to allow the user to interact with virtual objects despite the self-avatar and controller misalignment and study their influence on embodiment, proprioception, preference, and task performance. We modify aspects such as whether the virtual controllers are rendered, whether controllers are rendered in their real physical location or attached to the user's hand, and whether stretching the avatar arms to always reach the real controllers. We evaluate the interaction modes both quantitatively (performance metrics) and qualitatively (embodiment, proprioception, and user preference questionnaires). Our results show that the stretching arms solution, which provides body continuity and guarantees that the virtual hands or controllers are in the correct location, offers the best results in embodiment, user preference, proprioception, and performance. Also, rendering the controller does not have an effect on either embodiment or user preference.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642268
Virtual reality (VR) offers various opportunities for innovative therapeutic approaches, especially regarding self-related mind-body interventions. We introduce a VR body swap system enabling multiple users to swap their perspectives and appearances and evaluate its effects on virtual sense of embodiment (SoE) and perception- and cognition-based self-related processes. In a self-compassion-framed scenario, twenty participants embodied their personalized, photorealistic avatar, swapped bodies with an unfamiliar peer, and reported their SoE, interoceptive awareness (perception), and self-compassion (cognition). Participants' experiences differed between bottom-up and top-down processes. Regarding SoE, their agency and self-location shifted to the swap avatar, while their top-down self-identification remained with their personalized avatar. Further, the experience positively affected interoceptive awareness but not self-compassion. Our outcomes offer novel insights into the SoE in a multiple-embodiment scenario and highlight the need to differentiate between the different processes in intervention design. They raise concerns and requirements for future research on avatar-based mind-body interventions.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642328
The integration of questionnaires into virtual reality experiences has recently been proposed as a way to reduce the potential biases introduced through the negative effects of leaving VR, however there has been little attention paid to how qualitative interviews could similarly be integrated into the virtual world for the purposes of user evaluation. In this paper we explore how conducting interviews within the virtual environment may affect the outcome of the evaluation and the relationship between participant and interviewer, and how this may differ with and without visual representation of the interviewer through use of an avatar. We conclude that in-VR interviews are a valid and promising method of data collection for user evaluation with similar data quality to in-person interviews, but that the interviewer should have a visual presence in the environment to maintain their relationship with the participant and the perceived realism of the environment.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642707