Mirror Me: Exploring Avatar Self-Views in Multi-User Virtual Reality

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

Abstract

This paper investigates avatar self-views in virtual reality (VR) and their impact on multi-user communication scenarios. Self-views in video conferencing have been shown to impact our self-perception and mental load, so we explore whether similar effects occur in VR, as personal and professional gatherings progressively move to virtual spaces with 3D avatars. We identify the following key design dimensions for self-representations in VR: spatiality, anchoring and size, and self-visibility. Based on these, we designed three variants (Remote Perspective View, Personal Mirror, and Miniature Avatar), which we compare to a baseline (No Additional Self-View) in a user study. Our analysis of sixteen dyads playing a word-guessing game requiring verbal and non-verbal communication (i.e., explaining and charades) in VR confirms that self-views are beneficial for communication scenarios that require expressive body language or facial expressions, as this allows monitoring the own avatar's animations. Further, the Miniature Avatar was overall preferred due to its spatiality, world-anchoring, and full self-visibility. Based on our results, we offer design recommendations for self-views covering the key design dimensions in VR.

Details

OriginalspracheDeutsch
Aufsatznummer9
Seitenumfang26
FachzeitschriftProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Jahrgang2025
Ausgabenummer8
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Dez. 2025
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Externe IDs

Scopus 105021471813
ORCID /0000-0002-2176-876X/work/200630538

Schlagworte