Positive Narrativity Enhances Sense of Agency toward a VR Avatar

TL;DR

This study shows that positive storytelling about a VR avatar increases users' sense of agency and familiarity, enhancing embodiment experiences in virtual reality environments.

Contribution

It introduces the novel concept that avatar narrativity, through contextual narratives, can modulate the sense of agency and embodiment in VR.

Findings

Positive narratives increased the sense of agency.

Sense of agency correlated with perceived familiarity.

Narrative context influences embodiment in VR.

Abstract

The full-body illusion (FBI) refers to the experience of perceiving a virtual avatar as one's own body. In virtual reality (VR) environments, inducing the FBI has been shown to modulate users' bodily experiences and behavior. Previous studies have demonstrated that embodying avatars with specific characteristics can influence users' actions, largely through the activation of implicit stereotypes. However, few studies have explicitly manipulated users' impressions of an avatar by introducing narrative context. The present study investigated how avatar narrativity, induced through contextual narratives, affects the FBI. Healthy participants embodied a powerful artificial lifeform avatar in VR after listening to either a positive narrative, in which the avatar used its abilities to protect others, or a negative narrative, in which it misused its power. Participants' impressions of the avatar and indices of bodily self-consciousness were subsequently assessed. The results showed that positive narratives significantly enhanced the sense of agency (SoA), and that SoA was positively correlated with participants' perceived personal familiarity with the avatar. These findings suggest that the avatar narrativity can modulate embodiment in VR.