TY  - JOUR
A1  - Döllinger, Nina
A1  - Wolf, Erik
A1  - Mal, David
A1  - Wenninger, Stephan
A1  - Botsch, Mario
A1  - Latoschik, Marc Erich
A1  - Wienrich, Carolin
T1  - Resize Me! Exploring the user experience of embodied realistic modulatable avatars for body image intervention in virtual reality
JF  - Frontiers in Virtual Reality
N2  - Obesity is a serious disease that can affect both physical and psychological well-being. Due to weight stigmatization, many affected individuals suffer from body image disturbances whereby they perceive their body in a distorted way, evaluate it negatively, or neglect it. Beyond established interventions such as mirror exposure, recent advancements aim to complement body image treatments by the embodiment of visually altered virtual bodies in virtual reality (VR). We present a high-fidelity prototype of an advanced VR system that allows users to embody a rapidly generated personalized, photorealistic avatar and to realistically modulate its body weight in real-time within a carefully designed virtual environment. In a formative multi-method approach, a total of 12 participants rated the general user experience (UX) of our system during body scan and VR experience using semi-structured qualitative interviews and multiple quantitative UX measures. Using body weight modification tasks, we further compared three different interaction methods for real-time body weight modification and measured our system’s impact on the body image relevant measures body awareness and body weight perception. From the feedback received, demonstrating an already solid UX of our overall system and providing constructive input for further improvement, we derived a set of design guidelines to guide future development and evaluation processes of systems supporting body image interventions.
KW  - virtual reality
KW  - avatar embodiment
KW  - user experience
KW  - body awareness
KW  - body weight perception
KW  - body weight modification
KW  - body image disturbance
KW  - eating and body weight disorders
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-292940
SN  - 2673-4192
VL  - 3
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Unruh, Fabian
A1  - Landeck, Maximilian
A1  - Oberdörfer, Sebastian
A1  - Lugrin, Jean-Luc
A1  - Latoschik, Marc Erich
T1  - The Influence of Avatar Embodiment on Time Perception - Towards VR for Time-Based Therapy
JF  - Frontiers in Virtual Reality
N2  - Psycho-pathological conditions, such as depression or schizophrenia, are often accompanied by a distorted perception of time. People suffering from this conditions often report that the passage of time slows down considerably and that they are “stuck in time.” Virtual Reality (VR) could potentially help to diagnose and maybe treat such mental conditions. However, the conditions in which a VR simulation could correctly diagnose a time perception deviation are still unknown. In this paper, we present an experiment investigating the difference in time experience with and without a virtual body in VR, also known as avatar. The process of substituting a person’s body with a virtual body is called avatar embodiment. Numerous studies demonstrated interesting perceptual, emotional, behavioral, and psychological effects caused by avatar embodiment. However, the relations between time perception and avatar embodiment are still unclear. Whether or not the presence or absence of an avatar is already influencing time perception is still open to question. Therefore, we conducted a between-subjects design with and without avatar embodiment as well as a real condition (avatar vs. no-avatar vs. real). A group of 105 healthy subjects had to wait for seven and a half minutes in a room without any distractors (e.g., no window, magazine, people, decoration) or time indicators (e.g., clocks, sunlight). The virtual environment replicates the real physical environment. Participants were unaware that they will be asked to estimate their waiting time duration as well as describing their experience of the passage of time at a later stage. Our main finding shows that the presence of an avatar is leading to a significantly faster perceived passage of time. It seems to be promising to integrate avatar embodiment in future VR time-based therapy applications as they potentially could modulate a user’s perception of the passage of time. We also found no significant difference in time perception between the real and the VR conditions (avatar, no-avatar), but further research is needed to better understand this outcome.
KW  - virtual reality
KW  - time perception
KW  - avatar embodiment
KW  - immersion
KW  - human computer interaction (HCI)
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259076
VL  - 2
ER  -