Impact of Personalized Avatars and Motion Synchrony on Embodiment and Users’ Subjective Experience: Empirical Study

BackgroundEmbodiment through a virtual avatar is a key element for people to feel that they are in the virtual world. ObjectiveThis study aimed to elucidate the interaction between 2 methods of eliciting embodiment through a virtual avatar: motion synchronization...

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Main Authors: Myeongul Jung, Sangyong Sim, Jejoong Kim, Kwanguk Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2022-11-01
Series:JMIR Serious Games
Online Access:https://games.jmir.org/2022/4/e40119
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author Myeongul Jung
Sangyong Sim
Jejoong Kim
Kwanguk Kim
author_facet Myeongul Jung
Sangyong Sim
Jejoong Kim
Kwanguk Kim
author_sort Myeongul Jung
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundEmbodiment through a virtual avatar is a key element for people to feel that they are in the virtual world. ObjectiveThis study aimed to elucidate the interaction between 2 methods of eliciting embodiment through a virtual avatar: motion synchronization and appearance similarity between a human and avatar, to understand embodiment (agency, body ownership, and self-location) and subjective experience (presence, simulator sickness, and emotion) in virtual reality. MethodsUsing a full-body motion capture system, 24 participants experienced their virtual avatars with a 3D-scanned face and size-matched body from a first-person perspective. This study used a 2 (motion; sync and async) × 2 (appearance; personalized and generic) within-subject design. ResultsThe results indicated that agency and body ownership increased when motion and appearance were matched, whereas self-location, presence, and emotion were affected by motion only. Interestingly, if the avatar’s appearance was similar to the participants (personalized avatar), they formed an agency toward the avatar’s motion that was not performed by themselves. ConclusionsOur findings would be applicable in the field of behavioral therapy, rehabilitation, and entertainment applications, by eliciting higher agency with a personalized avatar.
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spelling doaj.art-90948ea267ef4448ba0b5056884c973b2023-08-28T23:14:53ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Serious Games2291-92792022-11-01104e4011910.2196/40119Impact of Personalized Avatars and Motion Synchrony on Embodiment and Users’ Subjective Experience: Empirical StudyMyeongul Junghttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9432-103XSangyong Simhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7366-3900Jejoong Kimhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1196-701XKwanguk Kimhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4184-2058 BackgroundEmbodiment through a virtual avatar is a key element for people to feel that they are in the virtual world. ObjectiveThis study aimed to elucidate the interaction between 2 methods of eliciting embodiment through a virtual avatar: motion synchronization and appearance similarity between a human and avatar, to understand embodiment (agency, body ownership, and self-location) and subjective experience (presence, simulator sickness, and emotion) in virtual reality. MethodsUsing a full-body motion capture system, 24 participants experienced their virtual avatars with a 3D-scanned face and size-matched body from a first-person perspective. This study used a 2 (motion; sync and async) × 2 (appearance; personalized and generic) within-subject design. ResultsThe results indicated that agency and body ownership increased when motion and appearance were matched, whereas self-location, presence, and emotion were affected by motion only. Interestingly, if the avatar’s appearance was similar to the participants (personalized avatar), they formed an agency toward the avatar’s motion that was not performed by themselves. ConclusionsOur findings would be applicable in the field of behavioral therapy, rehabilitation, and entertainment applications, by eliciting higher agency with a personalized avatar.https://games.jmir.org/2022/4/e40119
spellingShingle Myeongul Jung
Sangyong Sim
Jejoong Kim
Kwanguk Kim
Impact of Personalized Avatars and Motion Synchrony on Embodiment and Users’ Subjective Experience: Empirical Study
JMIR Serious Games
title Impact of Personalized Avatars and Motion Synchrony on Embodiment and Users’ Subjective Experience: Empirical Study
title_full Impact of Personalized Avatars and Motion Synchrony on Embodiment and Users’ Subjective Experience: Empirical Study
title_fullStr Impact of Personalized Avatars and Motion Synchrony on Embodiment and Users’ Subjective Experience: Empirical Study
title_full_unstemmed Impact of Personalized Avatars and Motion Synchrony on Embodiment and Users’ Subjective Experience: Empirical Study
title_short Impact of Personalized Avatars and Motion Synchrony on Embodiment and Users’ Subjective Experience: Empirical Study
title_sort impact of personalized avatars and motion synchrony on embodiment and users subjective experience empirical study
url https://games.jmir.org/2022/4/e40119
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AT jejoongkim impactofpersonalizedavatarsandmotionsynchronyonembodimentanduserssubjectiveexperienceempiricalstudy
AT kwangukkim impactofpersonalizedavatarsandmotionsynchronyonembodimentanduserssubjectiveexperienceempiricalstudy