As consumer adoption of immersive technologies grows, virtual avatars will play a prominent role in the future of social computing. However, as people begin to interact more frequently through virtual avatars, it is important to ensure that the research community has validated tools to evaluate the effects and consequences of such technologies. We present the first iteration of a new, freely available 3D avatar library called the Virtual Avatar Library for Inclusion and Diversity (VALID), which includes 210 fully rigged avatars with a focus on advancing racial diversity and inclusion. We present a detailed process for creating, iterating, and validating avatars of diversity. Through a large online study (n=132) with participants from 33 countries, we provide statistically validated labels for each avatar's perceived race and gender. Through our validation study, we also advance knowledge pertaining to the perception of an avatar's race. In particular, we found that avatars of some races were more accurately identified by participants of the same race.
翻译:随着消费者对沉浸式技术的采用日益增长,虚拟化身将在社会计算的未来中发挥关键作用。然而,当人们开始更频繁地通过虚拟化身进行互动时,确保研究界拥有经过验证的工具来评估此类技术的影响和后果至关重要。我们首次推出了一个全新的、免费可用的3D化身库——面向包容与多样性的虚拟化身库(VALID),其中包含210个完整骨骼绑定的化身,重点关注推进种族多样性和包容性。我们详细介绍了创建、迭代和验证多样化化身的完整流程。通过一项涉及33个国家、132名参与者的大规模在线研究,我们为每个化身的感知种族和性别提供了经统计验证的标签。通过这项验证研究,我们进一步推进了关于化身种族感知的知识。特别值得注意的是,我们发现某些种族的化身被同种族参与者更准确地识别。