The rise of self-avatars in collaborative virtual environments and their consequences for users' mental well-being

协作虚拟环境中自我化身的兴起及其对用户心理健康的影响

• 批准号: ES/X010899/1
• 负责人: Ana Javornik
• 金额: $ 31.07万
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FX010899%2F1
• 关键词: rise; self; avatars; collaborative; virtual

Context:We are witnessing a rise in the popularity of immersive collaborative virtual environments (VEs). These VEs - such as Roblox and Decentraland - are associated with the ideas of the metaverse envisioned to integrate physical and virtual interactions in a radically novel manner. Young people in particular are now using VEs for social interactions, entertainment, education and commercial activities, thus embedding them in everyday life. Importantly, VE users represent themselves via self-avatars, which vary greatly in terms of their resemblance to the users' offline appearance and offer new means for experimenting virtually with identity and the self. This project investigates how individuals relate to these self-avatars and whether this can impact mental well-being, particularly if it can make their lives more (or less) meaningful. Self-avatars could allow users to realise longing desires and traits, for instance to appear as a different gender or simply to look cool, but there is also a risk of users feeling more disillusioned with their offline life, which cannot match the promise of virtual worlds. There is a growing sense of urgency to understand the consequences of online platforms for mental well-being, as evidenced by the calls for further research issued by the Oxford Internet Institute and the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Augmented and Virtual Reality. This topic is even being discussed by the UK parliament, as the Digitally Altered Body Bill has been under consideration since 2019, highlighting the need for new legislation that would protect users of online platforms from mental health harms. However, the latest developments of VEs open up new possibilities, requiring new understandings into how people relate to their avatars. In particular, how does it affect the way they perceive themselves?Objectives:1) This research will contribute new knowledge, which will directly benefit academics in digital marketing, human-computer interaction and appearance research. This will encompass:a) New theoretical framings about the links between the self-avatars, VEs and mental well-being; b) Exploratory human-computer interaction studies examining real-time VE interactions through participant observations and in-depth interviews; c) A series of experimental studies testing the causal effects of VEs' capabilities and avatar customisation on self-related aspects and meaningfulness as a key component of mental well-being. 2) The project will directly benefit VE users. Two virtual events will develop discussions and raise awareness about this topic. The team will also create easy-to-use resources entitled "I Care about Me and My Avatar" to help enhance mental well-being. 3) Engagement with industry, policy makers and academic stakeholders will expand the discourse on responsible deployment of VEs and the metaverse. This will include:a) the early-stage report; b) A Manifesto on Meaningful Human Visualisation in Virtual Environments and the Future Metaverse;c) two workshops accompanying the launch of these two outputs;d) sustained stakeholder engagement through a range of mechanisms: network building through a senior advisory board and ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures; the PI's active participation at public events; informing stakeholders about ongoing activities via the project website and engagement via social media. 4) This project will create new interdisciplinary networks and scientific approaches to tackle relevant phenomena related to VEs and metaverse and mental well-being. These networks will enable related future research proposals (international funding bids).5) The delivery of research and impact activities will allow the PI to develop into a fully independent researcher. By leveraging her existing expertise, she will grow thought leadership in the area of emergent relevance, thus enabling the University of Bristol and the project partners.

背景：我们正在见证沉浸式协作虚拟环境（VE）的流行。这些虚拟实体--如Roblox和Decentraland --与虚拟实境的理念相关联，虚拟实境的理念是以一种全新的方式整合物理和虚拟交互。特别是年轻人现在利用虚拟教育进行社会交往、娱乐、教育和商业活动，从而使其融入日常生活。重要的是，VE用户通过自我化身来代表自己，这些化身在与用户离线外观的相似性方面差异很大，并提供了虚拟身份和自我实验的新手段。该项目调查了个人如何与这些自我化身联系，以及这是否会影响心理健康，特别是如果它可以使他们的生活更有意义（或更少）。自我化身可以让用户实现渴望的愿望和特征，例如以不同的性别出现或只是看起来很酷，但也有用户对他们的离线生活感到更加幻灭的风险，这无法与虚拟世界的承诺相匹配。人们越来越迫切地需要了解在线平台对心理健康的影响，牛津互联网研究所和世界经济论坛全球未来增强现实和虚拟现实理事会发出的进一步研究呼吁就是明证。英国议会甚至正在讨论这个话题，因为自2019年以来一直在考虑“数字化改变身体法案”，这凸显了保护在线平台用户免受心理健康伤害的新立法的必要性。然而，虚拟现实的最新发展开辟了新的可能性，需要对人们如何与他们的化身联系有新的理解。特别是，它如何影响他们感知自己的方式？目的：1）本研究将提供新的知识，这将直接有利于学者在数字营销，人机交互和外观研究。这将包括：a）关于自我化身，VE和心理健康之间联系的新理论框架; B）探索性人机交互研究，通过参与者观察和深入访谈检查实时VE交互; c）一系列实验研究，测试VE的能力和化身定制对自我相关方面和意义的因果影响，作为心理健康的关键组成部分。2)该项目将使虚拟企业用户直接受益。两个虚拟活动将推动关于这一主题的讨论并提高对这一主题的认识。该团队还将创建名为“我关心我和我的化身”的易于使用的资源，以帮助提高心理健康。3)与行业、政策制定者和学术利益相关者的接触将扩大有关虚拟实体和虚拟宇宙负责任部署的讨论。这将包括：a）早期阶段报告; B）关于虚拟环境中有意义的人类可视化和未来虚拟世界的宣言;c）伴随这两项产出的推出的两个讲习班;d）通过一系列机制保持利益攸关方的参与：通过高级咨询委员会和ESRC社会数字未来中心建立网络; PI积极参与公共活动;通过项目网站向利益攸关方通报正在开展的活动，并通过社交媒体参与。4)该项目将创建新的跨学科网络和科学方法，以解决与虚拟现实和虚拟世界以及心理健康相关的现象。这些网络将使相关的未来研究提案（国际资助投标）。5）研究和影响活动的交付将使PI发展成为一个完全独立的研究人员。通过利用她现有的专业知识，她将在紧急相关领域发展思想领导力，从而使布里斯托大学和项目合作伙伴。