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...
Main Authors: | , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2022-11-01
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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. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:47:32Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-90948ea267ef4448ba0b5056884c973b |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2291-9279 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:47:32Z |
publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
publisher | JMIR Publications |
record_format | Article |
series | JMIR Serious Games |
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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