Comparing avatar game representation preferences across three age groups

Rice, Mark; Koh, Ranieri Yung Ing; Liu, Quintessence; He, Q. Peter; Wan, Marcus; Yeo, Vanessa; Ng, Jamie; Tan, Wah Pheow

doi:10.1145/2468356.2468564

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…However, there is very little research exploring the use of avatars by older adults and how they can provide opportunities for exploring identities. As we have mentioned, studies suggest that older adults create ageless avatars [8,28,31], but it is not clear if this is the purpose of the users or a limitation of the interface which may not be providing choices to make their avatars look more like themselves. Our study aims to understand this issue by exploring representational requirements of older adults designing a humanoid avatar.…”

Section: Older Adults and Avatarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating stereotypes of older adults through avatars

Carrasco

Baker

Waycott

et al. 2017

Proceedings of the 29th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction

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Virtual Avatars can bring opportunities for enjoyment, social participation and exploration of identities. However, the configuration of avatar creation software may marginalise some groups of users due to them reinforcing social stereotypes that privilege youth and beauty, rather than representing the broader variety of human identities. Older adults are one group who may be disadvantaged with respect to avatars as avatar studies have typically focused on younger users. Considering that older populations are growing and that their participation in virtual environments is increasing, it is timely to investigate older adults' preferences in relation to avatars. We conducted a study with 23 participants (70+ years old) to understand the representational requirements of older adults when creating a humanoid virtual avatar. Our findings demonstrate that older adults are negotiating ageing stereotypes when creating a virtual body. These negotiations of body appearances range from: the Actual Avatar that by mirroring the self suggests an acceptance of the ageing body; the Vibrant Avatar that is idealising the physical condition of the self; the Other Avatar, that aims to explore other identities; and the Companion Avatar that creates another persona as company. These findings highlight that older adults have specific representational requirements when designing virtual avatars. CCS CONCEPTS 1 • Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in interaction design • Human-centered computing → Graphical user interfaces

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Section: Older Adults and Avatarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating stereotypes of older adults through avatars

Carrasco

Baker

Waycott

et al. 2017

Proceedings of the 29th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction

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“…One possible explanation for these results is that the graphical design of the worm-race does not suit well the game preferences of young and well-educated adults because the participant is forced to train using a worm-like avatar. Previous studies reveal that the avatar preferences observed among young adults are more diverse than in any other age group (Rice et al, 2013) and include non-human avatars. Therefore, no systematic negative effect of a worm avatar should be expected in our sample.…”

Section: Nf Format and Gamificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Much Do Strategy Reports Tell About the Outcomes of Neurofeedback Training? A Study on the Voluntary Up-Regulation of the Sensorimotor Rhythm

Autenrieth

Kober

Neuper

et al. 2020

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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The core learning mechanisms of neurofeedback (NF) training are associative, implicit, and, consequently, largely impervious to consciousness. Many other aspects of training that determine training outcomes, however, are accessible to conscious processing. The outcomes of sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) up-regulation training are related to the strategies reported by participants. The classification methods of individual strategies employed hitherto were possibly under influence of the idiosyncratic interpretation of the rater. To measure and possibly overcome this limitation, we employed independent raters to analyze strategies reported during SMR up-regulation training. Sixty-two healthy young participants took part in a single session of SMR up-regulation training. After completing six blocks of training, in which they received either simple visual feedback or a gamified version thereof, participants were required to report the strategies employed. Their individual learning outcomes were computed as well. Results point out that individual strategies as well as NF learning outcomes were not particularly sensitive to the presence of gamified elements in training the SMR up-regulation. A high degree of consistency across independent raters classifying strategy reports was observed. Some strategies were more typical of responders while other ones were more common among non-responders. In summary, we demonstrate a more objective and transparent way to analyze individual mental strategies to shed more light on the differences between NF responders and non-responders.

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“…Earlier research into older adults use of avatars has shown characteristics such as youthfulness to be those most valued by older users (Cheong et al, 2011;Rice et al, 2013).…”

Section: Observations From the Technology Explorers Engagement With Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Technology Explorers: Partnering with Older Adults to Engage with Virtual Reality and Virtual Avatars

Baker

Waycott

Vetere

et al. 2019

Ageing and Digital Technology

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Participatory research methods are increasingly being adopted when designing and evaluating emerging technologies for older adults. This chapter details our approach to applying participatory methods to our work with a group of older adults during series of workshops. The workshops involved working with 25 adults from both regional and metropolitan areas, who were over the age of 70. We referred to these participants as the Technology Explorers. The Technology Explorers partnered with us to explore how Virtual Reality (VR) technology could be harnessed to provide older adults with opportunities to participate in meaningful social activities. This chapter focusses on the initial engagement phase of the project that involved introducing the Technology Explorers to a range of VR systems and interaction techniques, co-designing 3D Avatars, and interacting with each other in two social VR technology probes. We describe the participatory methods that helped us to build a strong collaborative partnership with the Technology Explorers, before detailing the techniques used to engage with group members who had vastly different levels on technical knowledge. As none of the Technology Explorers had any experience with VR or virtual avatars, in a final section we describe three techniques we employed to develop this capacity in the group, with a particular focus on the deployment of two technology probes that marked the end of the workshop series.

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Comparing avatar game representation preferences across three age groups

Cited by 13 publications

References 7 publications

Negotiating stereotypes of older adults through avatars

Negotiating stereotypes of older adults through avatars

How Much Do Strategy Reports Tell About the Outcomes of Neurofeedback Training? A Study on the Voluntary Up-Regulation of the Sensorimotor Rhythm

The Technology Explorers: Partnering with Older Adults to Engage with Virtual Reality and Virtual Avatars

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