Current avatar representations used in immersive VR applications lack features that may be important for supporting natural behaviors and effective communication among individuals. This study investigates the impact of the visual and nonverbal cues afforded by three different types of avatar representations in the context of several cooperative tasks. The avatar types we compared are No_Avatar (HMD and controllers only), Scanned_Avatar (wearing an HMD), and Heal_Avatar (video-see-through). The subjective and objective measures we used to assess the quality of interpersonal communication include surveys of social presence, interpersonal trust, communication satisfaction, and attention to behavioral cues, plus two behavioral measures: duration of mutual gaze and number of unique words spoken. We found that participants reported higher levels of trustworthiness in the Real_Avatar condition compared to the Scanned_Avatar and No_Avatar conditions. They also reported a greater level of attentional focus on facial expressions compared to the No_Avatar condition and spent more extended time, for some tasks, attempting to engage in mutual gaze behavior compared to the Scanned_Avatar and No_Avatar conditions. In both the Heal_Avatar and Scanned_Avatar conditions, participants reported higher levels of co-presence compared with the No_Avatar condition. In the Scanned_Avatar condition, compared with the Heal_Avatar and No_Avatar conditions, participants reported higher levels of attention to body posture. Overall, our exit survey revealed that a majority of participants (66.67%) reported a preference for the Real_Avatar, compared with 25.00% for the Scanned_Avatar and 8.33% for the No_Avatar, These findings provide novel insight into how a user's experience in a social VR scenario is affected by the type of avatar representation provided.

中文翻译：

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虚拟社会环境中阿凡达表征对人际交往的影响

当前在沉浸式 VR 应用程序中使用的虚拟形象缺乏可能对支持自然行为和个人之间的有效交流很重要的特征。本研究调查了在多项合作任务的背景下，三种不同类型的虚拟形象所提供的视觉和非语言线索的影响。我们比较的头像类型是 No_Avatar（仅限 HMD 和控制器）、Scanned_Avatar（佩戴 HMD）和 Heal_Avatar（视频透视）。我们用来评估人际沟通质量的主观和客观测量包括社会存在感、人际信任、沟通满意度和对行为线索的关注，以及两个行为测量：相互凝视的持续时间和说出的独特单词的数量。我们发现，与 Scanned_Avatar 和 No_Avatar 条件相比，参与者在 Real_Avatar 条件下报告的可信度更高。他们还报告说，与 No_Avatar 条件相比，与 No_Avatar 条件相比，对面部表情的关注度更高，并且在某些任务上花费了更多时间，与 Scanned_Avatar 和 No_Avatar 条件相比，尝试进行相互凝视行为。在 Heal_Avatar 和 Scanned_Avatar 条件下，与 No_Avatar 条件相比，参与者报告的共存水平更高。在 Scanned_Avatar 条件下，与 Heal_Avatar 和 No_Avatar 条件相比，参与者报告对身体姿势的关注程度更高。总体而言，我们的退出调查显示，大多数参与者 (66.67%) 表示更喜欢 Real_Avatar，而这一比例为 25。