School of Design, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA 31401, USA.
Department of Emotion Engineering, Sangmyung University, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03016, Korea.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Sep 6;21(17):5986. doi: 10.3390/s21175986.
With the prevalence of virtual avatars and the recent emergence of metaverse technology, there has been an increase in users who express their identity through an avatar. The research community focused on improving the realistic expressions and non-verbal communication channels of virtual characters to create a more customized experience. However, there is a lack in the understanding of how avatars can embody a user's signature expressions (i.e., user's habitual facial expressions and facial appearance) that would provide an individualized experience. Our study focused on identifying elements that may affect the user's social perception (similarity, familiarity, attraction, liking, and involvement) of customized virtual avatars engineered considering the user's facial characteristics. We evaluated the participant's subjective appraisal of avatars that embodied the participant's habitual facial expressions or facial appearance. Results indicated that participants felt that the avatar that embodied their habitual expressions was more similar to them than the avatar that did not. Furthermore, participants felt that the avatar that embodied their appearance was more familiar than the avatar that did not. Designers should be mindful about how people perceive individuated virtual avatars in order to accurately represent the user's identity and help users relate to their avatar.
随着虚拟头像的普及和元宇宙技术的最近出现，越来越多的用户通过头像来表达自己的身份。研究人员专注于改进虚拟角色的逼真表达和非言语沟通渠道，以创造更具个性化的体验。然而，人们对于头像如何体现用户的标志性表情（即用户习惯性的面部表情和面部外观）以提供个性化体验的理解还存在不足。我们的研究重点是确定可能影响用户对考虑用户面部特征设计的定制化虚拟头像的社会感知（相似性、熟悉度、吸引力、喜欢和投入）的因素。我们评估了参与者对体现他们习惯性面部表情或面部外观的头像的主观评价。结果表明，参与者认为体现他们习惯性表情的头像比不体现的头像更像他们。此外，参与者认为体现他们外貌的头像比不体现的头像更熟悉。设计师应该注意人们如何感知个性化的虚拟头像，以便准确地代表用户的身份并帮助用户与他们的头像建立联系。
