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

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.