New developments in technology have made a virtual reality driven future seem closer than ever before, but virtual avatar technology still has quite a ways to go before VR communication feels natural. By placing emphasis on creating a sense of presence, researchers are striving to make virtual spaces more comfortable to inhabit.

With Facebook’s recent rebranding as “Meta,” [1] there has been increased focus on the concept of the metaverse as an avenue for commerce, education, socialization and more. Defined as a “highly immersive virtual world,” [2] events ranging from meetings to music festivals are hosted on these virtual platforms, using technology such as virtual reality headsets. This allows users to feel as if they are physically in those respective venues.. Virtual reality may even be able to create a stronger feeling of connection between users, as they are all experiencing the same system at the same time. In fact, Dr. Justin Hart, Assistant Director of Robot Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin, says that “there is a much stronger feeling of being co-located in VR than there is in physical reality.”

An integral feature of most virtual reality platforms is the ability for users to create an avatar to represent themselves in digital spaces. In recent years, many advancements have been made in terms of diversity and realism. At the Connect 2021 conference, Meta’s Codec Avatars program showed how avatars could adapt to multiple types of lighting and environments, as well as possess a number of distinct features. However, more detailed features such as minute facial expressions and targeted gaze are still difficult to recreate in avatars.
“Stuff like subtle, micro effective behaviors… are probably a ways off from actually being substantively modeled in VR in a way that’s satisfying,” Dr. Hart says.

Examples of Meta’s Codec Avatars depict variations in appearance on the same face [1].

As virtual avatars start to become more photorealistic, their slightly imperfect resemblance to real-life humans may incite discomfort in users in a theory that is known as the “uncanny valley.” According to this theory, when humans interact with objects that are not quite lifelike such as humanoid robots [3] or animated characters [4], the features that are slightly different from real humans are very apparent, which creates a sense of unease. The uncanny valley has been discussed for many years in terms of robotics and digital avatars, but there has never been an opportunity for research into how it may affect human behavior in the long term, simply because this level of realism in technology has not yet been achieved on a large scale.“I think that the uncanny valley is a huge thing, it’s just a huge thing that I don’t think is as supported by experimental evidence as people would like to indicate it,” Dr. Hart says.

A diagram of the uncanny valley. The dip in between little and exact human likeness may instill discomfort in humans [5].

In contrast, the use of avatars that are more cartoon-like may be a fun experience without any uncanny effects for users. Many current virtual reality avenues allow for users to masquerade as cartoon characters or animals, and Meta’s virtual reality showcase highlighted the many different forms an avatar could take. Though it may seem silly, interaction with these avatars still provides the same feelings of presence, something that virtual reality researchers are continuously working on emulating in these environments. When users truly feel as if they are a part of an environment and are aware of others surrounding them, they are then able to feel as if they are a part of the virtual world rather than merely being surrounded by it.
“I think that despite not being necessarily super life-like, that you can get a very high feeling of social presence,” Dr. Hart says.

Though there are many benefits of virtual reality, a recent study from the University of Manitoba [6] suggests that more time spent in virtual reality may lead to an increase in negative emotional responses. These negative emotions were largely attributed to how absorbed participants were in the video game they were playing. When compared to participants who were playing on a 2D laptop, those playing in virtual reality felt more absorbed but also experienced higher levels of negative rumination [7]. As researchers are trying to achieve higher levels of immersion and presence in virtual reality, it may be worth considering how this high level of absorption will affect the mental health of users. The study stated that “depending on the nature of the gameplay, VR use can cause some users to experience emotional harm,” [5]. “Firms producing VR video games ought to take steps to mitigate such harm in the design and marketing of their products.”

There is still lots of work to be done in the development of virtual reality, but recent developments in this technology mark the beginnings of a large shift into virtual socialization. In a time when ways to work and socialize virtually are necessary, the ability to feel constantly connected to others is enticing. When compared to current avenues of socialization such as messaging or video calling, the level of immersion that virtual reality offers is next-level, and though it may come with some drawbacks, the advantages are clear.
“That social proxemic feeling is much more prevalent in VR,” Dr. Hart says. “It’s just a fact that you feel a lot more like you’re together.”

References

1. Clark, Mitchell. “Amid the Fluff, Meta Showed an Impressive Demo of Its Codec Avatars.” The Verge, The Verge, 28 Oct. 2021, https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/28/22751177/facebook-meta-codec-avatar-real-time-environment-rendering-neural-interface.
2. “What Is the ‘Metaverse’?” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/meaning-of-metaverse.
3. “Sophia.” Hanson Robotics, 1 Sept. 2020, https://www.hansonrobotics.com/sophia/.
4. Noë, Alva. “Storytelling and the ‘Uncanny Valley’.” NPR, NPR, 20 Jan. 2012, https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2012/01/20/145504032/story-telling-and-the-uncanny-valley.
5. Figure 1. The Uncanny Valley. – Researchgate.net. https://researchgate.net/figure/The-Uncanny-Valley_fig1_312252873.
6. Lavoie, Raymond, et al. “Virtual Experience, Real Consequences: The Potential Negative Emotional Consequences of Virtual Reality Gameplay – Virtual Reality.” SpringerLink, Springer London, 2 Apr. 2020, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10055-020-00440-y.
7. Cirino, Erica. “10 Tips to Help You Stop Ruminating.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 18 Apr. 2019, https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-stop-ruminating.