Playing well with virtual classmates

Abstract

Virtual environments facilitate group collaboration through avatars. While many studies have examined the effects of avatar attributes on users' behaviors and attitudes, few have explicitly tested how elements of avatar design relate to group satisfaction. The present study fills this gap using data from a field study with student groups in a collaborative virtual environment. Customizing an avatar to express identity was found to relate to more satisfaction with group collaboration, while similarity between the avatar and user's gender traits was related to less group satisfaction. Further, groups with fewer active members reported higher group satisfaction. Unexpectedly, number of customizations and using a face-similar were not related to group satisfaction, potentially due to limitations in the present design for which future research can account. These findings suggest that avatar design elements play an important role in collaborative virtual environments.

Human-Avatar Interaction in Metaverse

“…There is a substantial body of research in this field. Users' perceptions, including feelings of realism [23], presence [21], trust [8], body ownership [14], and group happiness [31], may be influenced by the appearance of their avatars. These perceptions are influenced by a wide range of variables, including the avatar's face [33], its micro-expressions [30], the degree to which the avatar's body is realized [21], and the avatar's representation [7] or position [28].…”