Social evaluations of embodied agents and avatars (original) (raw)
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Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2014
In the present study, we investigated whether cultural stereotypes activated through the physical appearance of avatars would influence the perception of positive and negative affect in in-and out-group members. In a first study, forty-three German and forty Arab participants saw short video clips of a German and an Arab avatar displaying ambiguous nonverbal behavior. In spite of cultural stereotypes, both Arab and German participants attributed more positive emotions to the Arab avatar than to the German avatar. To further investigate these counterintuitive results, we conducted a follow-up study, in which fifty-two German and fifty-two Arab participants rated the valence of both avatars. Both German and Arab participants rated the Arab avatar significantly more positively than the German avatar. Taken together, the results of both studies show that the valence of avatars has the potential to override cultural stereotypes and influence the perception of positive and negative affect.
Assessing empathy and managing emotions through interactions with an affective avatar
Health Informatics Journal, 2016
Assistive technologies can improve the quality of life of people diagnosed with different forms of social communication disorders. We report on the design and evaluation of an affective avatar aimed at engaging the user in a social interaction with the purpose of assisting in communication therapies. A human–avatar taxonomy is proposed to assist the design of affective avatars aimed at addressing social communication disorder. The avatar was evaluated with 30 subjects to assess how effectively it conveys the desired emotion and elicits empathy from the user. Results provide evidence that users become used to the avatar after a number of interactions, and they perceive the defined behavior as being logical. The users’ interactions with the avatar entail affective reactions, including the mimic emotions that users felt, and establish a preliminary ground truth about prototypic empathic interactions with avatars that is being used to train learning algorithms to support social communic...
2020
Computer media, interactive interfaces and virtual environments are becoming more social and increasingly used for interpersonal interactions. Indeed, nowadays we can observe an increment in social interactions between users and computer agents (i.e. avatars). The inclusion of avatars within virtual environments is known to facilitate interaction and to improve users' sense of presence (being in there) and social presence (being with another) during these simulations. Therefore, understanding which characteristics of avatars’ appearance increase users' involvement and social presence in a virtual world can be useful for theoretical and applied purposes. We tried to address this issue by considering individuals' reaction to an ancient evolutionary behavior: grinding their mouth and showing their teeth to express anger. Participants determined their comfortdistance from male and female avatars showing anger and happiness with open and closed mouth. Results showed that comf...
Review of Communication Research, 2018
Avatars are growing in popularity and present in many interfaces used for computer-mediated communication (CMC) including social media; e-commerce; and education. Communication researchers have been investigating avatars for over twenty years; and an examination of this literature reveals similarities but also notable discrepancies in conceptual definitions. The goal of this review is to provide a general overview of current debates; methodological approaches; and trends in findings. Our review synthesizes previous research in four areas. First; we examine how scholars have conceptualized the term “avatar;” identify similarities and differences across these definitions; and recommend that scholars use the term consistently. Next; we review theoretical perspectives relevant to avatar perception (e.g.; the computers as social actors framework). Then; we examine avatar characteristics that communicators use to discern the humanity and social potential of an avatar (anthropomorphism; form realism; behavioral realism; and perceived agency) and discuss implications for attributions and communication outcomes. We also review findings on the social categorization of avatars; such as when people apply categories like sex; gender; race; and ethnicity to their evaluations of digital representations. Finally; we examine research on avatar selection and design relevant to communication outcomes. Here; we review both motivations in CMC contexts (such as self-presentation and identity expression) and potential effects (e.g.; persuasion). We conclude with a discussion of future directions for avatar research and propose that communication researchers consider avatars not just as a topic of study; but also as a tool for testing theories and understanding critical elements of human communication. Avatar mediated environments provide researchers with a number of advantageous technological affordances that can enable manipulations that may be difficult or inadvisable to execute in natural environments. We conclude by discussing the use of avatar research to extend communication theory and our understanding of communication processes.
Using Facial Expressiveness of a Virtual Agent to Induce Empathy in Users
International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2021
Healthcare simulators are learning environments that offer many training opportunities. The integration of expressive virtual patients in these simulators encourages the exchanges and provokes emotional reactions in the learner, which promotes memorization and learning. Based on these elements, we assume that the facial expressiveness of a virtual agent is a factor to be considered in order to improve the user experience. We investigate the impact of the facial expressiveness of virtual humans on the empathy induction in the user of health simulators. We also investigate the impact of facial expressiveness on the user's sense of similarity and the affective bond with the agent. Our results show a high empathy score when users train with simulators. Depending on the context, we observe a significant difference in perspective-taking in favor of the users who interact with an expressive virtual agent to a virtual agent without facial expressiveness.
Social Interaction with Virtual Beings
2009
There is a significant move toward the use of "robot avatars," that is, representations of virtual humans, real or imaginary objects acting as virtual salespeople, on e-tail websites and retail stores in virtual worlds. De Angeli, Lynch, and Johnson (2001, p. 198) characterize avatar representations as "social agents," "intentionally designed to be human-like, to show a sense of personality and attitude, and to involve the user in social relationships." Although robot avatar actions and communication are likely generated from a database rather than a human, there is a stream of international research indicating that human-avatar interactions in e-tailing can induce feelings of trust or liking within users and even influence users' decisions .
Comparing Interpersonal Interactions with a Virtual Human to Those with a Real Human
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2007
This paper provides key insights into the construction and evaluation of interpersonal simulators-systems that enable interpersonal interaction with virtual humans. Using an interpersonal simulator, two studies were conducted that compare interactions with a virtual human to interactions with a similar real human. The specific interpersonal scenario employed was that of a medical interview. Medical students interacted with either a virtual human simulating appendicitis or a real human pretending to have the same symptoms. In Study I ðn ¼ 24Þ, medical students elicited the same information from the virtual and real human, indicating that the content of the virtual and real interactions were similar. However, participants appeared less engaged and insincere with the virtual human. These behavioral differences likely stemmed from the virtual human's limited expressive behavior. Study II ðn ¼ 58Þ explored participant behavior using new measures. Nonverbal behavior appeared to communicate lower interest and a poorer attitude toward the virtual human. Some subjective measures of participant behavior yielded contradictory results, highlighting the need for objective, physically-based measures in future studies. A real interpersonal interaction and (b) an equivalent virtual interpersonal interaction. In the real interaction, a medical student interviews a real standardized patient. In the virtual interaction, the medical student interviews a virtual human.