Evaluating user perception toward physics-adapted avatar in remote heterogeneous spaces

In avatar-mediated telepresence, it is essential to reflect the user’s movements to the avatar for effective interaction. In the case of heterogeneous telepresence environments where two spaces differ in size and furniture layouts, researchers have proposed methods to adjust the avatar movement to deviate from the user’s while preserving the intention to adapt to the physical environment. This study aims to investigate users’ perception and preference toward their physics-adapted avatars in remote spaces. To this end, we conducted two user studies. In the first study, we examined how users perceive their avatars when their pose category is changed to avoid physics conflict. In the second study, we investigated users’ perception when the avatar’s eye level is modified to avoid physics conflict. The first study showed that the avatar’s pose category modification led to a decrease in ownership and control over their avatar, decreased intention preservation and trust toward the system, and less preference. Physics conflict also negatively affected users’ perceptions. Users’ preferences for adapting their avatar’s pose category to match the physics versus preserving the pose category, despite the physics conflict, were similar. The second study indicated that users recognized the hierarchy that occurred due to the eye level change, and preferred preserving their eye level. Based on these results, we offer suggestions for avatar adaptation in heterogeneous space telepresence systems.