The Influence of Game Character Appearance on Empathy and Immersion: Virtual Non-Robotic Versus Robotic Animals

Alexandra Sierra Rativa; Marie Postma; Menno van Zaanen

doi:10.1177/1046878120926694

The Influence of Game Character Appearance on Empathy and Immersion: Virtual Non-Robotic Versus Robotic Animals

Alexandra Sierra Rativa, Marie Postma, Menno van Zaanen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background. Empathic interactions with animated game characters can help improve user experience, increase immersion, and achieve better affective outcomes related to the use of the game.

Method. We used a 2x2 between-participant design and a control condition to analyze the impact of the visual appearance of a virtual game character on empathy and immersion. The four experimental conditions of the game character appearance were: Natural (virtual animal) with expressiveness (emotional facial expressions), natural (virtual animal) with non-expressiveness (without emotional facial expressions), artificial (virtual robotic animal) with expressiveness (emotional facial expressions), and artificial (virtual robotic animal) with non-expressiveness (without emotional facial expressions). The control condition contained a baseline amorphous game character. 100 participants between 18 to 29 years old (M=22.47) were randomly assigned to one of five experimental groups. Participants originated from several countries: Aruba (1), China (1), Colombia (3), Finland (1), France (1), Germany (1), Greece (2), Iceland (1), India (1), Iran (1), Ireland (1), Italy (3), Jamaica (1), Latvia (1), Morocco (3), Netherlands (70), Poland (1), Romania (2), Spain (1), Thailand (1), Turkey (1), United States (1), and Vietnam (1).

Results. We found that congruence in appearance and facial expressions of virtual animals (artificial + non-expressive and natural + expressive) leads to higher levels of self-reported situational empathy and immersion of players in a simulated environment compared to incongruent appearance and facial expressions.

Conclusions. The results of this investigation showed an interaction effect between artificial/natural body appearance and facial expressiveness of a virtual character’s appearance. The evidence from this study suggests that the appearance of the virtual animal has an important influence on user experience.

Original language	English
Article number	1046878120926694
Pages (from-to)	685-711
Number of pages	27
Journal	Simulation and Gaming
Volume	51
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878120926694
Publication status	Published - Oct 2020

Keywords

appearance
artificiality
body appearance
dispositional empathy
empathy
expressiveness
facial expressiveness
game character appearance
immersion
simulation game
situational empathy
User experience
virtual animal
virtual robotic animal
INTERPERSONAL REACTIVITY INDEX
VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES
DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY
UNCANNY VALLEY
EMOTION
SIMULATION
ASSOCIATION
VALIDATION
TENDENCIES
EXPRESSION

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10.1177/1046878120926694

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title = "The Influence of Game Character Appearance on Empathy and Immersion: Virtual Non-Robotic Versus Robotic Animals",

abstract = "Background. Empathic interactions with animated game characters can help improve user experience, increase immersion, and achieve better affective outcomes related to the use of the game.Method. We used a 2x2 between-participant design and a control condition to analyze the impact of the visual appearance of a virtual game character on empathy and immersion. The four experimental conditions of the game character appearance were: Natural (virtual animal) with expressiveness (emotional facial expressions), natural (virtual animal) with non-expressiveness (without emotional facial expressions), artificial (virtual robotic animal) with expressiveness (emotional facial expressions), and artificial (virtual robotic animal) with non-expressiveness (without emotional facial expressions). The control condition contained a baseline amorphous game character. 100 participants between 18 to 29 years old (M=22.47) were randomly assigned to one of five experimental groups. Participants originated from several countries: Aruba (1), China (1), Colombia (3), Finland (1), France (1), Germany (1), Greece (2), Iceland (1), India (1), Iran (1), Ireland (1), Italy (3), Jamaica (1), Latvia (1), Morocco (3), Netherlands (70), Poland (1), Romania (2), Spain (1), Thailand (1), Turkey (1), United States (1), and Vietnam (1).Results. We found that congruence in appearance and facial expressions of virtual animals (artificial + non-expressive and natural + expressive) leads to higher levels of self-reported situational empathy and immersion of players in a simulated environment compared to incongruent appearance and facial expressions.Conclusions. The results of this investigation showed an interaction effect between artificial/natural body appearance and facial expressiveness of a virtual character{\textquoteright}s appearance. The evidence from this study suggests that the appearance of the virtual animal has an important influence on user experience.",

keywords = "appearance, artificiality, body appearance, dispositional empathy, empathy, expressiveness, facial expressiveness, game character appearance, immersion, simulation game, situational empathy, User experience, virtual animal, virtual robotic animal, INTERPERSONAL REACTIVITY INDEX, VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES, DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY, UNCANNY VALLEY, EMOTION, SIMULATION, ASSOCIATION, VALIDATION, TENDENCIES, EXPRESSION",

author = "{Sierra Rativa}, Alexandra and Marie Postma and {van Zaanen}, Menno",

note = "Funding Information: The authors very much appreciate the support of this research to COLCIENCIAS (Colombia), who gave a doctoral scholarship to Alexandra Sierra Rativa. Moreover, we would like to offer my special thanks to the research group called “DESTINO” validated by COLCIENCIAS (Colombia) for the collaboration of this research. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2020.",

year = "2020",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1177/1046878120926694",

language = "English",

volume = "51",

pages = "685--711",

journal = "Simulation and Gaming",

issn = "1046-8781",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",

number = "5",

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T1 - The Influence of Game Character Appearance on Empathy and Immersion

T2 - Virtual Non-Robotic Versus Robotic Animals

AU - Sierra Rativa, Alexandra

AU - Postma, Marie

AU - van Zaanen, Menno

N1 - Funding Information: The authors very much appreciate the support of this research to COLCIENCIAS (Colombia), who gave a doctoral scholarship to Alexandra Sierra Rativa. Moreover, we would like to offer my special thanks to the research group called “DESTINO” validated by COLCIENCIAS (Colombia) for the collaboration of this research. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2020.

PY - 2020/10

Y1 - 2020/10

N2 - Background. Empathic interactions with animated game characters can help improve user experience, increase immersion, and achieve better affective outcomes related to the use of the game.Method. We used a 2x2 between-participant design and a control condition to analyze the impact of the visual appearance of a virtual game character on empathy and immersion. The four experimental conditions of the game character appearance were: Natural (virtual animal) with expressiveness (emotional facial expressions), natural (virtual animal) with non-expressiveness (without emotional facial expressions), artificial (virtual robotic animal) with expressiveness (emotional facial expressions), and artificial (virtual robotic animal) with non-expressiveness (without emotional facial expressions). The control condition contained a baseline amorphous game character. 100 participants between 18 to 29 years old (M=22.47) were randomly assigned to one of five experimental groups. Participants originated from several countries: Aruba (1), China (1), Colombia (3), Finland (1), France (1), Germany (1), Greece (2), Iceland (1), India (1), Iran (1), Ireland (1), Italy (3), Jamaica (1), Latvia (1), Morocco (3), Netherlands (70), Poland (1), Romania (2), Spain (1), Thailand (1), Turkey (1), United States (1), and Vietnam (1).Results. We found that congruence in appearance and facial expressions of virtual animals (artificial + non-expressive and natural + expressive) leads to higher levels of self-reported situational empathy and immersion of players in a simulated environment compared to incongruent appearance and facial expressions.Conclusions. The results of this investigation showed an interaction effect between artificial/natural body appearance and facial expressiveness of a virtual character’s appearance. The evidence from this study suggests that the appearance of the virtual animal has an important influence on user experience.

AB - Background. Empathic interactions with animated game characters can help improve user experience, increase immersion, and achieve better affective outcomes related to the use of the game.Method. We used a 2x2 between-participant design and a control condition to analyze the impact of the visual appearance of a virtual game character on empathy and immersion. The four experimental conditions of the game character appearance were: Natural (virtual animal) with expressiveness (emotional facial expressions), natural (virtual animal) with non-expressiveness (without emotional facial expressions), artificial (virtual robotic animal) with expressiveness (emotional facial expressions), and artificial (virtual robotic animal) with non-expressiveness (without emotional facial expressions). The control condition contained a baseline amorphous game character. 100 participants between 18 to 29 years old (M=22.47) were randomly assigned to one of five experimental groups. Participants originated from several countries: Aruba (1), China (1), Colombia (3), Finland (1), France (1), Germany (1), Greece (2), Iceland (1), India (1), Iran (1), Ireland (1), Italy (3), Jamaica (1), Latvia (1), Morocco (3), Netherlands (70), Poland (1), Romania (2), Spain (1), Thailand (1), Turkey (1), United States (1), and Vietnam (1).Results. We found that congruence in appearance and facial expressions of virtual animals (artificial + non-expressive and natural + expressive) leads to higher levels of self-reported situational empathy and immersion of players in a simulated environment compared to incongruent appearance and facial expressions.Conclusions. The results of this investigation showed an interaction effect between artificial/natural body appearance and facial expressiveness of a virtual character’s appearance. The evidence from this study suggests that the appearance of the virtual animal has an important influence on user experience.

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KW - expressiveness

KW - facial expressiveness

KW - game character appearance

KW - immersion

KW - simulation game

KW - situational empathy

KW - User experience

KW - virtual animal

KW - virtual robotic animal

KW - INTERPERSONAL REACTIVITY INDEX

KW - VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES

KW - DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY

KW - UNCANNY VALLEY

KW - EMOTION

KW - SIMULATION

KW - ASSOCIATION

KW - VALIDATION

KW - TENDENCIES

KW - EXPRESSION

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DO - 10.1177/1046878120926694

M3 - Article

SN - 1046-8781

VL - 51

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EP - 711

JO - Simulation and Gaming

JF - Simulation and Gaming

IS - 5

M1 - 1046878120926694

ER -

The Influence of Game Character Appearance on Empathy and Immersion: Virtual Non-Robotic Versus Robotic Animals

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Keywords

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