Speaking Through an Avatar: Emotional Expressiveness, Individual Differences, User Experience and Performance
[EN] Emotionally expressive avatars are often used to increase engagement in virtual environ-ments, but their effects on users' emotional outcomes and experience during evaluative tasks are not well established. This study examined whether differences in avatar emo-tional expressiveness are...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) |
| Repositorio: | RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:riunet.upv.es:10251/230296 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/230296 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Anxiety Avatars Communication performance Embodiment Emotional expressiveness Extraversion Facial tracking Self-perception User experience VR head-sets |
| Sumario: | [EN] Emotionally expressive avatars are often used to increase engagement in virtual environ-ments, but their effects on users' emotional outcomes and experience during evaluative tasks are not well established. This study examined whether differences in avatar emo-tional expressiveness are associated with affective responses and user experience during a socially evaluative speech task in virtual reality (VR), and how individual characteristics and emotional variables relate to performance and user experience. Sixty-three university students were randomly assigned to deliver a five-minute self-presentation, simulating a job interview, in front of a virtual mirror while embodied in either a high-expressive or low-expressive avatar. In the present study, the manipulation of avatar expressiveness was implemented using Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro headsets, differing mainly in facial-tracking capability. Participants completed a structured three-phase protocol: pre-avatar embodiment (baseline questionnaires), avatar embodiment (speech task), and post-avatar embodiment (post-task measures). Emotional state and trait variables, speech fluency and engagement during the task, and user experience variables were assessed. No significant effects of avatar expressiveness were found on emotional or experiential varia-bles. Correlation analyses revealed a positive association between extraversion and avatar embodiment. These findings contribute to our understanding of the factors that are associ-ated with user experience and behaviour in avatar-based VR environments and suggest that individual traits, such as extraversion, should be considered when designing VR ap-plications for training, education, and therapeutic purposes. |
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