Effects of Virtual Human Appearance Fidelity on Emotion Contagion in Affective Inter-Personal Simulations

Abstract

Realistic versus stylized depictions of virtual humans in simulated inter-personal situations and their ability to elicit emotional responses in users has been an open question for artists and researchers alike. We empirically evaluated the effects of near visually realistic vs. non-realistic stylized appearance of virtual humans on the emotional response of participants in a medical virtual reality system that was designed to educate users in recognizing the signs and symptoms of patient deterioration. In a between-subjects experiment protocol, participants interacted with one of three different appearances of a virtual patient, namely visually realistic, cartoon-shaded and charcoal-sketch like conditions in a mixed reality simulation. Emotional impact were measured via a combination of quantitative objective measures were gathered using skin Electrodermal Activity (EDA) sensors, and quantitative subjective measures such as the Differential Emotion Survey (DES IV), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and Social Presence questionnaire. The emotional states of the participants were analyzed across four distinct time steps during which the medical condition of the virtual patient deteriorated (an emotionally stressful interaction), and were contrasted to a baseline affective state. Objective EDA results showed that in all three conditions, male participants exhibited greater levels of arousal as compared to female participants. We found that negative affect levels were significantly lower in the visually realistic condition, as compared to the stylized appearance conditions. Furthermore, in emotional dimensions of interest-excitement, surprise, anger, fear and guilt participants in all conditions responded similarly. However, in social emotional constructs of shyness, presence, perceived personality, and enjoyment-joy, we found that participants responded differently in the visually realistic condition as compared to the cartoon and sketch conditions. Our study suggests that virtual human appearance can affect not only critical emotional reactions in affective inter-personal training scenarios. but also users' perceptions of personality and social characteristic of the virtual interlocutors.

FIJI: A Framework for the Immersion-Journalism Intersection

“…Similarly, Chittaro et al (2014) found that fear and skin conductance could be induced by providing high-fidelity portrayals of character harm (e.g., rendering of blood) during an aircraft evacuation simulation. However, Volonte et al (2016) found that lower fidelity cartoon and sketch-based rendering algorithms elicited greater negative emotions (e.g., anger, fear, and guilt) than a high-fidelity rendering algorithm, when interacting with a deteriorating virtual patient.…”

“…While some journalists may worry about how the CG-based simulations of mobile VR experiences impact the emotions of their audience, prior research indicates that emotions can not only be elicited with CG (Chittaro et al, 2014), but that lower fidelity visual realism may elicit more emotions than high-fidelity visual realism (Volonte et al, 2016). Also, CG-based mobile VR is more likely to induce the sense of body ownership than 360° videos because the viewer's body can be easily represented in the virtual world.…”

Examination of electrodermal and cardio-vascular reactivity in virtual reality through a combined stress induction protocol

“…Even though the field of VR-based research geared toward clinical application is not a novelty, there is still no direct correspondence of presence and related factors to the level of induced emotional arousal. Although a reinforcing role of realism on the behavioral response is noted in Slater et al (2009) and in full body avatars in Gutiérrez-Maldonado et al (2009), in Volonte et al (2016) an opposite effect is reported. Furthermore, compared to alternatives.…”

A model to measure QoE for virtual personal assistant

“…Jun et al [16] highlighted the significance of not only appearance and behavior but also nonverbal communication and affective components towards the quality of user experience. The relationship between rendering/display fidelity of virtual human models and emotional reactions is investigated in [32].…”