Avatar Customization, Personality, and the Perception of Work Group Inclusion in Immersive Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) has experienced exponential growth in attention in the past five years. Many see it as a new communication mechanism through which people can come together in a way they have never been able to via traditional online interfaces. However, much is still unknown about how VR may affect how groups of users communicate. In this work, we present preliminary findings on how avatars, the customization choices users make to create them, and user perception of them may affect feelings of work group inclusion. We study this in the context of a formal classroom setting with work groups comprised of students. Avatars are known to transform user perception and behavior in virtual environments – both immersive and non-immersive – and can dictate the way social interactions play out in these scenarios. We produce results that align with this paradigm, showing that elements of work group inclusion are different between the physical world and VR, and that customization choices and user perceptions of avatars may shape the perception of inclusion.