24 May 2018

Importance of Appearance of Avatars in Games

The gaming experience over the last decade has evolved tremendously and player-customized avatars, or virtual doppelgangers, are becoming more realistic every day. Past studies have shown women may prefer avatars that don't look like them but a new study by USC Institute for Creative Technologies and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows no gender difference or negative effect on player's performance or subjective involvement based on whether a photorealistic avatar looked like them or like their friend. 


The study is the latest to examine benefits to using self-similar avatars in virtual experiences, and builds primarily on a study by Gale Lucas that analyzed players' performance and subjective involvement with a photorealistic self-similar avatar in a maze running game. Results showed effects based on avatar appearance as well as gender differences in participants' experiences. The new findings reveal how important it is to carefully consider the extent to which high fidelity self-similar avatars align with the purpose and structure of an interactive experience before development.

More information: