Avatars in Clinical Psychology: A Framework for the Clinical Use of Virtual Humans

Abstract

Early applications of virtual reality (VR) technology in psychological assessment, treatment, and research have yielded promising results. In particular, an increasing number of studies analyze the unique features of the experience made by patients during their exposure to virtual environments. However, the majority of these studies explore how patients navigate in the virtual spaces and interact with virtual objects. Only a few of them investigate the features of inhabited virtual environments, where real people and autonomous virtual humans are able to interact and to cooperate. In particular, there is a lack of discussion of the role that such autonomous virtual humans could have in VR-aided psychotherapy. The main goal of this paper is to identify a framework for future research in this area. Three levels of analysis are identified. The purpose of the first two levels is the identification of the key "physical" features (e.g., appearance, structure) and "internal" characteristics (e.g., behavior, degree of autonomy, perceptual capabilities) needed by an effective simulation. The third level is concerned with the evaluation of the interaction characteristics required for a successful relationship between the patient and the virtual human.

The Unbearable Likeness of Being Digital: The Persistence of Nonverbal Social Norms in Online Virtual Environments

“…At the micro level, people have utilized this paradigm within the laboratory to study a number of types of social interaction behaviors. For example, by being able to take advantage of the experimental control, precise measurement abilities, and ease of replication that is intrinsic to virtual environments, 10 researchers have learned more about learning, 24 human conformity, therapeutic potential, 16,32 and nonverbal behavior. 1,8 Alternatively, at the macro level, there is the potential to use online forums to explore economics 13 and legal issues.…”

Cybertherapeutic Theory and Techniques

“…Some research has begun to explore the use and effectiveness of such online audiovisual interventions (Day & Schneider, 2002;Glueckauf et al, 2002;Manchanda & Mclaren, 1998;Rees & Stone, 2005;Simpson, 2003). In this category of sensory-rich communication, we may also include the more imaginary multimedia environments in which the therapeutic process takes place in an artificially constructed scene or "virtual reality" -in some cases including visual icons called avatars that clients use to represent themselves within that environment (Gaggioli, Mantovani, Castelnuovo, Wiederhold, & Riva, 2003;Glantz, Rizzo, & Graap, 2003;Riva, 2000Riva, , 2003Schuemie, Van der Straaten, Krijn, & Van der Mast, 2001;Wiederhold & Wiederhold, 1998). These multimedia environments may simulate real situations, as in virtual reality (VR) treatments for phobias, or they may be purely imaginative and even fantasy-based scenes.…”

The Potential of Virtual Reality to Assess Functional Communication in Aphasia

“…Magnenat-Thalmann and Thalmann (2005) reviewed developments in the area of virtual humans. Challenges remain related to the creation of better anatomical bodies, spontaneous movement in bodies, virtual humans with realistic hair and clothes, and the more subtle yet complex elements of autonomous virtual humans capable of complex behaviors and believable interactions are still to be developed (Egges, Zhang, Kshirsagar, & Magnenat-Thalmann, 2003;Gaggioli, Mantovani, Castelnuovo, Wiederhold, & Riva, 2003;Magnenat-Thalmann & Kshirsagar, 2000;Magnenat-Thalmann & Thalmann, 2005).…”