SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Media Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicReimagining roles and identity in the era of human - AI collaboration - Volume 2View all articles
Impact of Virtual Avatar Appearance Realism on Perceptual Interaction Experience: A Network Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
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Objective: As virtual avatars become increasingly embedded in social, educational, and commercial platforms, the virtual avatars appearance realism (VAAR) has emerged as a critical factor influencing user perceptual interaction experience. This study explores the impact of VAAR on users' perceptual interaction experiences. Method: We retrieved all relevant publications from the past decade (April 2015 to April 2025) across four major databases: Web of Science, Elsevier ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Google Scholar. The analysis focused on three user perceptual interaction experience-related indicators: attractiveness, trustworthiness, and eeriness. A network meta-analysis (NMA) was conducted using Stata software, and the relative ranking of VAAR was determined based on the surface under the cumulative ranking curve. Results: A total of 13 studies with 2,343 participants were included in the analysis. According to the results of the NMA, high VAAR were perceived as more attractive and more trustworthy than those with medium or low VAAR. In contrast, medium VAAR elicited the strongest feelings of eeriness. Conclusion: This study highlights the subjective impact of VAAR on user interaction experience. These findings provide meaningful guidance for the future development and design of virtual avatars.
Keywords: Virtual avatars, Appearance Realism, Perceptual experience, attractiveness, trustworthiness, Eeriness, Network meta-analysis
Received: 08 May 2025; Accepted: 03 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tao, Liu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: ZhiYu Tao, tzy186141@gmail.com
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