The effect of the agency and anthropomorphism of users' sense of telepresence, copresence, and social presence in virtual environments

  • Authors:

  • Kristine L. Nowak;Frank Biocca

  • Affiliations:

  • University of Connecticut;Media Interface & Network Design Lab, Michigan State University

  • Venue:
  • Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments
  • Year:
  • 2003

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Abstract

We report on an experiment that examined the influence of anthropomorphism and perceived agency on presence, copresence, and social presence in a virtual environment. The experiment varied the level of anthropomorphism of the image of interactants: high anthropomorphism, low anthropomorphism, or no mage. Perceived agency was manipulated by telling the participants that the image was either an avatar controlled by a human, or an agent controlled by a computer. The results support the prediction that people respond socially to both human and computer-controlled entities, and that the existence of a virtual image increases telepresence. Participants interacting with the less-anthropomorphic image reported more copresence and social presence than those interacting with partners represented by either no mage at all or by a highly anthropomorphic image of the other, indicating that the more anthropomorphic images set up higher expectations that lead to reduced presence when these expectations were not met.