"I just embodied you": Psychological Ownership of Personalized Photorealistic Avatars

Alicia G. Cork; Anca Salagean; Laura G.  Smith; David A. Ellis; Adam N. Joinson; Danae Stanton Fraser

doi:10.1145/3613905.3651065

"I just embodied you": Psychological Ownership of Personalized Photorealistic Avatars

Alicia G. Cork, Anca Salagean, Laura G. Smith, David A. Ellis, Adam N. Joinson, Danae Stanton Fraser

Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter in a published conference proceeding

Abstract

Developing and using personalized photorealistic avatars in research settings poses novel challenges for research ethics procedures. These challenges stem from the highly identifiable nature of avatars, which are imbued with the users’ identities. This study examines how individuals, who have had personalized photorealistic avatars created for participation in multiple research experiments, relate to their avatars when not embodying them. In three focus groups (N=9), we use hypothetical scenarios to explore avatar ownership. Using thematic analysis, we identify three themes that encapsulate individuals’ psychological sense of ownership of and connection to their avatars: i) the desire for control over the avatar, ii) the entangled relationship between user and avatar identities, and iii) feelings towards the avatar. From these themes, we suggest three recommendations for enhancing future ethical procedures, emphasizing transparency, access, control, and consent, and discuss factors limiting the generalizability of our results.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI 2024 - Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Florian Floyd Mueller, Penny Kyburz, Julie R. Williamson, Corina Sas
Place of Publication	New York, U. S. A.
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
Number of pages	7
ISBN (Electronic)	9798400703317
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3613905.3651065
Publication status	Published - 11 May 2024
Event	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2024 (CHI 2024) - Hawaiʻi Convention Center, Honolulu, USA United States Duration: 11 May 2024 → 16 May 2024

Publication series

Name	Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2024 (CHI 2024)
Country/Territory	USA United States
City	Honolulu
Period	11/05/24 → 16/05/24

Funding

This research was funded by the EPSRC's National Research Centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial Influence Online (REPHRAIN), grant number: EP/V011189/1 and UK Research and Innovation, grant number: AH/S002936/1

Funders	Funder number
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council	EP/V011189/1
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
UK Research and Innovation	AH/S002936/1
UK Research and Innovation

Keywords

personalised photorealistic avatars
privacy
psychological ownership

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Software
Human-Computer Interaction
Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design

Access to Document

10.1145/3613905.3651065

Cite this

Cork, A. G., Salagean, A., Smith, L. G., Ellis, D. A., Joinson, A. N., & Stanton Fraser, D. (2024). "I just embodied you": Psychological Ownership of Personalized Photorealistic Avatars. In F. F. Mueller, P. Kyburz, J. R. Williamson, & C. Sas (Eds.), CHI 2024 - Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Article 386 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613905.3651065

"I just embodied you": Psychological Ownership of Personalized Photorealistic Avatars. / Cork, Alicia G.; Salagean, Anca ; Smith, Laura G. et al.
CHI 2024 - Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Florian Floyd Mueller; Penny Kyburz; Julie R. Williamson; Corina Sas. New York, U. S. A.: Association for Computing Machinery, 2024. 386 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings).

Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter in a published conference proceeding

Cork, AG , Salagean, A , Smith, LG , Ellis, DA , Joinson, AN & Stanton Fraser, D 2024, "I just embodied you": Psychological Ownership of Personalized Photorealistic Avatars. in FF Mueller, P Kyburz, JR Williamson & C Sas (eds), CHI 2024 - Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 386, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings, Association for Computing Machinery, New York, U. S. A., ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2024 (CHI 2024), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA United States, 11/05/24. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613905.3651065

Cork AG , Salagean A , Smith LG , Ellis DA , Joinson AN , Stanton Fraser D. "I just embodied you": Psychological Ownership of Personalized Photorealistic Avatars. In Mueller FF, Kyburz P, Williamson JR, Sas C, editors, CHI 2024 - Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, U. S. A.: Association for Computing Machinery. 2024. 386. (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings). doi: 10.1145/3613905.3651065

Cork, Alicia G. ; Salagean, Anca ; Smith, Laura G. et al. / "I just embodied you" : Psychological Ownership of Personalized Photorealistic Avatars. CHI 2024 - Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. editor / Florian Floyd Mueller ; Penny Kyburz ; Julie R. Williamson ; Corina Sas. New York, U. S. A. : Association for Computing Machinery, 2024. (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings).

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"I just embodied you": Psychological Ownership of Personalized Photorealistic Avatars

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

REPHRAIN: Research centre on privacy, harm reduction and adversarial influence online

Cite this

"I just embodied you": Psychological Ownership of Personalized Photorealistic Avatars

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

REPHRAIN: Research centre on privacy, harm reduction and adversarial influence online

Cite this