Embodying VR avatars as a dynamic (para)social interaction: Towards a future research agenda

Abstract

Our interactions with multiple selves are becoming increasingly complex through immersive technologies. We are not merely controlling our virtual representations through on-screen avatars but can now look through their eyes and walk in their shoes due to the embodiment illusion in virtual reality. This chapter examines who is looking back when we look into virtual mirrors and the consequent implications of such experiences. Current research in this domain lacks coherence and frameworks, often relying on reductionist grounds, focussing on personality traits, user types or demographic characteristics like age or gender. These approaches become insufficient given the significant impact of interacting with virtual avatars on shaping cognition and behaviour. The chapter argues for examining embodying avatars as a highly interactive and dynamic social dyad rather than a sum of the user and the avatar. This approach will involve rearticulating game studies' player-avatar relationship (PAR) and social psychology expansion theory, particularly the inclusion of others in the self. Parallel exploratory studies of rich VR communities' experiences and discussions would open new perspectives and phenomena, expanding our horizons and future research. Ultimately, the chapter aims to enable the development of meaningful and grounded literature onVR avatars, addressing the complexity of the phenomenon and the lack of interdisciplinary conversations, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of our interactions with embodied virtual representations.