Flexing Muscles in Virtual Reality: Effects of Avatars' Muscular Appearance on Physical Performance

Kocur, Martin; Kloss, Melanie; Schwind, Valentin; Wolff, Christian; Henze, Niels

doi:10.1145/3410404.3414261

Cited by 64 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…That said, relatively less work has focused on the action affordances of avatars as additional idealized representations of identity. For instance, participants embodying more “muscular” avatars exhibit higher grip strength (Kocur et al, 2020b ).…”

Section: Proteus Effect Expandedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protean Kinematics: A Blended Model of VR Physics

Jeong

Kim

et al. 2021

Front. Psychol.

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Avatar research largely focuses on the effects of the appearance and external characteristics of avatars, but may also warrant further consideration of the effects of avatar movement characteristics. With Protean kinematics, we offer an expansion the avatar-user appearances-based effects of the Proteus Effect to a systematic exploration into the role of movement in affecting social perceptions (about others) and idealized perceptions (about self). This work presents both a theoretical (typology) and methodological (physics-based measurement) approach to understanding the complex blend of physical inputs and virtual outputs that occur in the perceptual experience of VR, particularly in consideration of the collection of hippocampal (e.g., place cells, grid cells) and entorhinal neurons (e.g., speed cells) that fire topologically relative to physical movement in physical space. Offered is a novel method that distills the blend of physical and virtual kinematics to contribute to modern understandings of human-agent interaction and cognitive psychology.

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Section: Proteus Effect Expandedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protean Kinematics: A Blended Model of VR Physics

Jeong

Kim

et al. 2021

Front. Psychol.

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“…One example of a top-down process causing behavioral changes using altered body structures is known as the Proteus effect [42]. The visual appearance of the own avatar is being associated with stereotypical behavior from previous knowledge and engage users to behave correspondingly [4,13]. Practical problem arising in human-computer interaction (HCI) concerns the mapping of e.g.…”

Section: Altered Body Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Missing Fingers in Virtual Reality

Kocur

Graf

Schwind

2020

26th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology

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Avatars in virtual reality (VR) can have body structures that differ from the physical self. Game designers, for example, often stylize virtual characters by reducing the number of fingers. Previous work found that the sensation of presence in VR depends on avatar realism and the number of limbs. However, it is currently unknown how the removal of individual fingers affects the VR experience, body perception, and how fingers are used instead. In a study with 24 participants, we investigate the effects of missing fingers and avatar realism on presence, phantom pain perception, and finger usage. Our results show that particularly missing index fingers decrease presence, show the highest phantom pain ratings, and significantly change hand interaction behavior. We found that relative usage of thumb and index fingers in contrast to middle, ring, and little finger usage was higher with abstract hands than with realistic ones-even when the fingers were missing. We assume that dominant fingers are firstly integrated into the own body schema when an avatar does not resemble one's own appearance. We discuss cognitive mechanisms in experiencing virtual limb loss.

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“…Likewise, Philip et al (26) concluded that embodied CAs could even create a sense of trust, which increases the participants' willingness to interact with these virtual humans. Research from human-computer interaction even found that the appearance of virtual characters can affect the users' cognitive as well as physical performance and, therefore, may be leveraged to create effective health interventions (27)(28)(29)(30). Despite all these promising findings, realistic 3D virtual agents are still in its infancy and, therefore, it is unknown whether a higher fidelity of a CA contributes to a higher therapeutic efficacy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computer-Assisted Avatar-Based Treatment for Dysfunctional Beliefs in Depressive Inpatients: A Pilot Study

et al. 2021

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Dysfunctional cognitions are a crucial part of depression. Cognitive therapy aims to modify dysfunctional beliefs. Typically, dysfunctional beliefs are questioned, and patients are trained to think of alternative functional beliefs. We developed a computer-assisted, avatar-based adjunct for cognitive therapy that aims to reduce dysfunctional beliefs and symptom severity. Besides, it aims to promote alternative functional beliefs. In a randomized controlled trial with 34 patients diagnosed with major depression currently undergoing inpatient treatment at the university psychiatric hospital in Regensburg, Germany, participants were randomly assigned to receive either treatment as usual (TAU) or computer-assisted avatar-based treatment for dysfunctional beliefs (CAT-DB) in addition to TAU. In CAT-DB participants are faced with a virtual avatar expressing their personal dysfunctional beliefs. Participants are asked to contradict these and express alternative functional beliefs. Assessments of conviction of dysfunctional beliefs, functional beliefs and symptom severity were done shortly before the intervention (pre-treatment), right after the intervention (post-treatment) and 14 days later (follow-up). The reduction in conviction of dysfunctional beliefs and symptom severity, and the increase in conviction of alternative functional beliefs at post-treatment and follow-up were significantly greater for the group receiving CAT-DB. Our study provides an indication in favor of the effectiveness of CAT-DB for depressive patients. It is a simple tool that could support classical cognitive therapy. Further studies at different centres, with larger sample sizes and varying therapeutic contexts are required to prove the effectiveness of our intervention.

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Flexing Muscles in Virtual Reality: Effects of Avatars' Muscular Appearance on Physical Performance

Cited by 64 publications

References 68 publications

Protean Kinematics: A Blended Model of VR Physics

Protean Kinematics: A Blended Model of VR Physics

The Impact of Missing Fingers in Virtual Reality

Computer-Assisted Avatar-Based Treatment for Dysfunctional Beliefs in Depressive Inpatients: A Pilot Study

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