The Effect of the Agency and Anthropomorphism on Users' Sense of Telepresence, Copresence, and Social Presence in Virtual Environments

TLDR

The study examined how anthropomorphism and perceived agency affect presence, copresence, and social presence in a virtual environment. The experiment varied anthropomorphism (high, low, none) and manipulated perceived agency by informing participants whether the image was human‑controlled or computer‑controlled. People responded socially to both human‑ and computer‑controlled avatars, and virtual images increased tele‑presence; however, less‑anthropomorphic images yielded higher copresence and social presence, suggesting that overly anthropomorphic images raise expectations that reduce presence when unmet.

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 image. 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 tele-presence. Participants interacting with the less-anthropomorphic image reported more copresence and social presence than those interacting with partners represented by either no image 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.