Expressive Avatars

Vitality in Virtual Worlds

Bibliographic Data

ID19562425
AuthorsDavid Ekdahl (0000-0003-0940-8582, University of Exeter, corresponding author), Lucy Osler (0000-0002-6347-8381, Cardiff University)
Year2023
Volume36
Issue2
Pages24-24
Publication date2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy & Technology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2210-5433 • E-ISSN: 2210-5441
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s13347-023-00628-5
PMID37038606
OpenAlexW4362666538
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited64

Critics have argued that human-controlled avatar interactions fail to facilitate the kinds of expressivity and social understanding afforded by our physical bodies. We identify three claims meant to justify the supposed expressive limits of avatar interactions compared to our physical interactions. First, “The Limited Expressivity Claim”: avatars have a more limited expressive range than our physical bodies. Second, “The Inputted Expressivity Claim”: any expressive avatarial behaviour must be deliberately inputted by the user. Third, “The Decoding Claim”: users must infer or figure out the expressive meaning of human-controlled avatars’ behaviour through cognitively onerous processes. With the aim of critically assessing all three claims, we analyze data collected through observations of and interviews with expert players of the avatar-based video game League of Legends. Focusing on Daniel Stern’s (2010) notion of vitality, we analyze the participants’ descriptions of seeing and interacting with other avatars during performance. Our analysis shows that the informants experience human-based avatarial interactions as qualitatively different than interactions with bots, that the informants see the movements of other players’ avatars as having different expressive styles, and that the informants actively use and manipulate this avatarial expressivity during performance. The results of our analysis, we argue, provide reasons for loosening or resisting the three claims concerning the limits of avatarial expressivity

Avatar · Embodied cognition · Expressivity · Gesture · Human–computer interaction · Action Observation and Synchronization · Computer Science · Digital Games and Media · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Psychology · Social Psychology · Artificial Intelligence

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