DeVeaux Cyan, Han Eugy, Landay James A, Bailenson Jeremy N
Department of Communication, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2023 Oct 18. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2023.0210.
Social virtual reality (VR) is an emerging set of platforms where users interact while embodying avatars. Given that VR headsets track real physical movements and map them onto one's avatar body, the nature of one's digital representation is an important aspect of social VR. However, little is known about how the visual proximity of an avatar to the self shapes user experience in naturalistic, social VR environments. In this article, we use this context to explore how embodiment is influenced by the perceived differences between the physical attributes of a user and the virtual attributes of their avatar. We selected a number of attributes for this measure that have been shown to be important for customization and representation in VR. Participants created an avatar, spent time in social VR, and reported on their experience in a questionnaire. Our results demonstrate a significant negative association between attribute discrepancy and avatar embodiment, the psychological experience of one's virtual body as their own body. We discuss implications for theories of self-representation and suggest urgency on the part of games and VR designers to improve the methods of creating avatars.
社交虚拟现实（VR）是一组新兴的平台，用户在其中以虚拟形象进行互动。鉴于VR头显能够追踪真实的身体动作并将其映射到用户的虚拟形象上，个人数字形象的本质是社交VR的一个重要方面。然而，对于在自然主义的社交VR环境中，虚拟形象与自身的视觉接近程度如何塑造用户体验，我们却知之甚少。在本文中，我们利用这一背景来探讨具身化是如何受到用户身体属性与虚拟形象的虚拟属性之间感知差异的影响。我们选择了一些已被证明对VR中的定制和形象塑造很重要的属性来进行这项测量。参与者创建了一个虚拟形象，在社交VR环境中体验一段时间后，通过问卷报告他们的体验。我们的研究结果表明，属性差异与虚拟形象具身化之间存在显著的负相关，具身化即把自己的虚拟身体视为自己真实身体的心理体验。我们讨论了这些结果对自我表征理论的影响，并建议游戏和VR设计师应迫切改进创建虚拟形象的方法。
