Visual Perception and Evaluation of Photo-Realistic Self-Avatars From 3D Body Scans in Males and Females

The creation or streaming of photo-realistic self-avatars is important for virtual reality applications that aim for perception and action to replicate real world experience. The appearance and recognition of a digital self-avatar may be especially important for applications related to telepresence, embodied virtual reality, or immersive games. We investigated gender differences in the use of visual cues (shape, texture) of a self-avatar for estimating body weight and evaluating avatar appearance. A full-body scanner was used to capture each participant's body geometry and color information and a set of 3D virtual avatars with realistic weight variations was created based on a statistical body model. Additionally, a second set of avatars was created with an average underlying body shape matched to each participant’s height and weight. In four sets of psychophysical experiments, the influence of visual cues on the accuracy of body weight estimation and the sensitivity to weight changes was assessed by manipulating body shape (own, average) and texture (own photo-realistic, checkerboard). The avatars were presented on a large-screen display, and participants responded to whether the avatar's weight corresponded to their own weight. Participants also adjusted the avatar's weight to their desired weight and evaluated the avatar's appearance with regard to similarity to their own body, uncanniness, and their willingness to accept it as a digital representation of the self. The results of the psychophysical experiments revealed no gender difference in the accuracy of estimating body weight in avatars. However, males accepted a larger weight range of the avatars as corresponding to their own. In terms of the ideal body weight, females but not males desired a thinner body. With regard to the evaluation of avatar appearance, the questionnaire responses suggest that own photo-realistic texture was more important to males for higher similarity ratings, while own body shape seemed to be more important to females. These results argue for gender-specific considerations when creating self-avatars.

[1]  Sehoon Ha,et al.  Iterative Training of Dynamic Skills Inspired by Human Coaching Techniques , 2014, ACM Trans. Graph..

[2]  Rosanna E. Guadagno,et al.  My avatar and me - Gender and personality predictors of avatar-self discrepancy , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[3]  G. Gescheider.  Psychophysics: The Fundamentals , 1997 .

[4]  Michael J. Black,et al.  DRAPE , 2012, ACM Trans. Graph..

[5]  Despina Michael,et al.  Aliens versus Humans: Do Avatars Make a Difference in How We Play the Game? , 2014, 2014 6th International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications (VS-GAMES).

[6]  Heloir,et al.  The Uncanny Valley , 2019, The Animation Studies Reader.

[7]  Yunhe Pan,et al.  Research on virtual human in ergonomic simulation , 2007, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[8]  Russell V. Lenth,et al.  Least-Squares Means: The R Package lsmeans , 2016 .

[9]  Ming-Hui Wen,et al.  Body and mind: a study of avatar personalization in three virtual worlds , 2009, CHI.

[10]  Michael J. Black,et al.  SMPL: A Skinned Multi-Person Linear Model , 2023 .

[11]  Gérard G. Medioni,et al.  Rapid avatar capture and simulation using commodity depth sensors , 2014, Comput. Animat. Virtual Worlds.

[12]  Martin Klaudiny,et al.  Rapid one-shot acquisition of dynamic VR avatars , 2017, 2017 IEEE Virtual Reality (VR).

[13]  Kathleen M. Robinette,et al.  The CAESAR project: a 3-D surface anthropometry survey , 1999, Second International Conference on 3-D Digital Imaging and Modeling (Cat. No.PR00062).

[14]  Uwe Kloos,et al.  Perception of strength and power of realistic male characters , 2015, SAP.

[15]  Matthew Q. Hill,et al.  Body talk , 2016, ACM Trans. Graph..

[16]  Jeanine Stefanucci,et al.  Big Foot , 2015, ACM Trans. Appl. Percept..

[17]  J. Thompson,et al.  The (mis)measurement of body image: ten strategies to improve assessment for applied and research purposes. , 2004, Body image.

[18]  Peter Willemsen,et al.  Effects of Stereo Viewing Conditions on Distance Perception in Virtual Environments , 2008, PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.

[19]  Mel Slater,et al.  The impact of avatar realism and eye gaze control on perceived quality of communication in a shared immersive virtual environment , 2003, CHI '03.

[20]  Mel Slater,et al.  How to Build an Embodiment Lab: Achieving Body Representation Illusions in Virtual Reality , 2014, Front. Robot. AI.

[21]  Kathleen M. Robinette,et al.  Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource (CAESAR), Final Report. Volume 1. Summary , 2002 .

[22]  Karl F. MacDorman,et al.  The Uncanny Valley [From the Field] , 2012, IEEE Robotics Autom. Mag..

[23]  R. Gardner,et al.  Weight status and the perception of body image in men , 2014, Psychology research and behavior management.

[24]  Verónica C. Ramenzoni,et al.  Illusory Shrinkage and Growth , 2010, Psychological science.

[25]  Charles E. Hughes,et al.  Ludic Learning: Exploration of TLE TeachLivE™ and Effective Teacher Training , 2013, Int. J. Gaming Comput. Mediat. Simulations.

[26]  F A Wichmann,et al.  Ning for Helpful Comments and Suggestions. This Paper Benefited Con- Siderably from Conscientious Peer Review, and We Thank Our Reviewers the Psychometric Function: I. Fitting, Sampling, and Goodness of Fit , 2001 .

[27]  Michael J. Black,et al.  Assessing body image in anorexia nervosa using biometric self-avatars in virtual reality: Attitudinal components rather than visual body size estimation are distorted , 2017, Psychological Medicine.

[28]  Felix Wichmann,et al.  The psychometric function: I , 2001 .

[29]  Viren Swami,et al.  The effects of striped clothing on perceptions of body size , 2012 .

[30]  Michael J. Black,et al.  Body size estimation of self and others in females varying in BMI , 2018, PloS one.

[31]  Heinrich H. Bülthoff,et al.  The Effect of Viewing a Self-Avatar on Distance Judgments in an HMD-Based Virtual Environment , 2010, PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.

[32]  F. Weiss,et al.  Exacting Beauty: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment of Body Image Disturbance , 2000 .

[33]  John A. Sokolowski,et al.  The Digital Patient: Advancing Healthcare, Research, and Education , 2016 .

[34]  Mel Slater,et al.  Meeting people vitually: experiments in shared virtual environments , 2002 .

[35]  Uwe Kloos,et al.  The influence of eye height and avatars on egocentric distance estimates in immersive virtual environments , 2011, APGV '11.

[36]  Young-A Lee,et al.  Older Women’s Clothing Fit and Style Concerns and Their Attitudes Toward the Use of 3D Body Scanning , 2012 .

[37]  Steve Marschner,et al.  Matching Real Fabrics with Micro-Appearance Models , 2015, ACM Trans. Graph..

[38]  Victoria Interrante,et al.  The effect of self-embodiment on distance perception in immersive virtual environments , 2008, VRST '08.

[39]  Anna Blond,et al.  Impacts of exposure to images of ideal bodies on male body dissatisfaction: a review. , 2008, Body image.

[40]  Michael J. Black,et al.  ClothCap , 2017, ACM Trans. Graph..

[41]  Heinrich H. Bülthoff,et al.  Virtual arm׳s reach influences perceived distances but only after experience reaching , 2015, Neuropsychologia.

[42]  Norman I. Badler,et al.  Virtual humans for animation, ergonomics, and simulation , 1997, Proceedings IEEE Nonrigid and Articulated Motion Workshop.

[43]  L S Mark,et al.  A biodynamic basis for perceived categories of action: a study of sitting and stair climbing. , 1987, Journal of motor behavior.

[44]  William R. Sherman,et al.  Understanding Virtual RealityInterface, Application, and Design , 2002, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[45]  Michael J. Black,et al.  Coregistration: Simultaneous Alignment and Modeling of Articulated 3D Shape , 2012, ECCV.

[46]  Hong Yu Wong,et al.  Owning an Overweight or Underweight Body: Distinguishing the Physical, Experienced and Virtual Body , 2014, PloS one.

[47]  Peter Thompson,et al.  Applying the Helmholtz illusion to fashion: horizontal stripes won't make you look fatter , 2011, i-Perception.

[48]  D. Bates,et al.  Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4 , 2014, 1406.5823.

[49]  L. M. Ward,et al.  The role of the media in body image concerns among women: a meta-analysis of experimental and correlational studies. , 2008, Psychological bulletin.

[50]  Hiroshi Ashida,et al.  Helmholtz illusion makes you look fit only when you are already fit, but not for everyone , 2013, i-Perception.

[51]  Michael J. Black,et al.  Can I Recognize My Body's Weight? The Influence of Shape and Texture on the Perception of Self , 2014, ACM Trans. Appl. Percept..

[52]  Michael J. Black,et al.  Investigating Body Image Disturbance in Anorexia Nervosa Using Novel Biometric Figure Rating Scales: A Pilot Study , 2017, European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association.

[53]  Heinrich H. Bülthoff,et al.  The influence of avatar (self and character) animations on distance estimation, object interaction and locomotion in immersive virtual environments , 2011, APGV '11.

[54]  Sally A. Linkenauger,et al.  Taking a hands-on approach: apparent grasping ability scales the perception of object size. , 2011, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[55]  Alan Feingold,et al.  Gender Differences in Body Image Are Increasing , 1998 .

[56]  D. J. Lee.  Society and the Adolescent Self-Image , 1969 .

[57]  C. E. Rogers,et al.  Symbolic Description of Factorial Models for Analysis of Variance , 1973 .

[58]  Amy O. Stevens,et al.  The use of virtual patients to teach medical students history taking and communication skills. , 2006, American journal of surgery.

[59]  Jeremy N. Bailenson,et al.  The Effect of Behavioral Realism and Form Realism of Real-Time Avatar Faces on Verbal Disclosure, Nonverbal Disclosure, Emotion Recognition, and Copresence in Dyadic Interaction , 2006, PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.

[60]  Neil A. Dodgson,et al.  Variation and extrema of human interpupillary distance , 2004, IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging.

[61]  Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann,et al.  3D Web-Based Virtual Try On of Physically Simulated Clothes , 2011 .