The Unknown World of My Stuffed Animal: Effects of the Presentation of Social Networks in Virtual Space on the Social Presence of Stuffed Animals

Abstract

Psychological and sociological research have suggested that the presence of an agent is not solely determined by the individual's characteristics, but also defined by the social network in which the agent belongs. However, current artificial agents have limited ability to build and belong to agent-specific social networks. In this study, we used a stuffed animal as an artificial agent and investigated how the owner's attitude toward the stuffed animal changed, when the owner was presented with a scene where the stuffed animal's avatar interacted with avatars of other stuffed animals. While no significant changes were observed through subjective measurements, the results showed that the owner's photograph of their stuffed animal transformed into one that "seems to be loved" by the owner, as perceived by third parties. This result suggests that displaying the social network of an artificial agent to the owner can enhance the agent's social presence on an unconscious level.

Editorial for the Special Issue: Predictive Mind: From Neuroscience to Humanities

“…This sense of agency can then be extended to others, often to fictional avatars and characters as well as real people. Hashikawa et al (2023) show that social contexts can transform participants' attitudes towards fictional avatars. Their findings shed light on the phenomena of human behaviors based on imaginary predictions.…”