Using an Interactive Avatar’s Facial Expressiveness to Increase Persuasiveness and Socialness

Abstract

Research indicates that the facial expressions of animated characters and agents can influence people's perceptions and interactions with these entities. We designed an experiment to examine how an interactive animated avatar's facial expressiveness influences dyadic conversations between adults and the avatar. We animated the avatar in realtime using the tracked facial motion of a confederate. To adjust facial expressiveness, we damped and exaggerated the avatar's facial motion. We found that ratings of the avatar's extroversion were positively related to its expressiveness. However, impressions of the avatar's realism and naturalness worsened with increased expressiveness. We also found that the confederate was more influential when she appeared as the damped or exaggerated avatar. Adjusting the expressiveness of interactive animated avatars may be a simple way to influence people's social judgments and willingness to collaborate with animated avatars. These results have implications for using avatar facial expressiveness to improve the effectiveness of avatars in various contexts. Adjusting the expressiveness of interactive animated avatars may be a simple way to influence people's social judgments and willingness to collaborate with animated avatars.