{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:01:16Z","timestamp":1785402076860,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":81,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,21]],"date-time":"2024-08-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1724198400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100010661","name":"Horizon 2020 Framework Programme","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100010661","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Virtual Real."],"abstract":"<jats:p>In virtual reality (VR), users can embody a wide variety of avatars, from digital replicas of themselves through diverse human body styles and appearances to non-humanoid representations. Although choosing a body to inhabit is part of what makes VR such an engaging experience, various studies have shown how embodiment may change the way we perceive ourselves and others both inside and outside VR. In our study, we explored whether first-person versus third-person avatar customization would lead to changes in embodiment. Furthermore, participants were embodied in larger-sized avatars based on the hypothesis that embodiment would lead to a change in implicit bias toward larger-sized people. Our results show that third-person avatar customization led to a decrease in the perceived embodiment of the larger-sized avatar and that, on the contrary, higher embodiment was associated with a reduction in implicit biases toward larger-sized people in the first-person avatar customization mode. These findings suggest that third-person avatar customization leads to reduced feelings of embodiment, while first-person avatar customization may support more radical body changes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2024.1436752","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,22]],"date-time":"2024-08-22T19:15:27Z","timestamp":1724354127000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["The impact of first-person avatar customization on embodiment in immersive virtual reality"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Mar","family":"Gonzalez-Franco","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anthony","family":"Steed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christopher C.","family":"Berger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ana","family":"Tajadura-Jim\u00e9nez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Fast generation of realistic virtual humans","author":"Achenbach","year":"2017"},{"key":"B2","first-page":"408","article-title":"Scape: shape completion and animation of people","author":"Anguelov","year":"2005"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"277","DOI":"10.1089\/cpb.2008.0292","article-title":"How avatar customizability affects children\u2019s arousal and subjective presence during junk food\u2013sponsored online video games","volume":"12","author":"Bailey","year":"2009","journal-title":"CyberPsychology Behav."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"601","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2016.00601","article-title":"Virtual embodiment of white people in a black virtual body leads to a sustained reduction in their implicit racial bias","volume":"10","author":"Banakou","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"712375","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2022.712375","article-title":"Follow your nose: extended arm reach after pinocchio illusion in virtual reality","volume":"3","author":"Berger","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Virtual Real."},{"key":"B6","first-page":"2982","article-title":"Fostering intrinsic motivation through avatar identification in digital games","author":"Birk","year":"2016"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2008.10.003","article-title":"Full-body illusions and minimal phenomenal selfhood","volume":"13","author":"Blanke","year":"2009","journal-title":"Trends Cognitive Sci."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1109\/tvcg.2007.1054","article-title":"On linear variational surface deformation methods","volume":"14","author":"Botsch","year":"2007","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"693","DOI":"10.1016\/S1573-4463(86)01016-7","article-title":"Chapter 13 the economic analysis of labor market discrimination: a survey","volume-title":"Handbook of Labor Economics","author":"Cain","year":"1986"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"180","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eatbeh.2010.03.002","article-title":"Implicit, explicit, and internalized weight bias and psychosocial maladjustment among treatment-seeking adults","volume":"11","author":"Carels","year":"2010","journal-title":"Eat. Behav."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1007\/BF01409793","article-title":"Collaborative virtual environments: an introductory review of issues and systems","volume":"3","author":"Churchill","year":"1998","journal-title":"Virtual Real."},{"key":"B12","first-page":"4","volume-title":"The color of violence against women","author":"Davis","year":"2000"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2022.935449","article-title":"Resize Me! Exploring the user experience of embodied realistic modulatable avatars for body image intervention in virtual reality","volume":"3","author":"D\u00f6llinger","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Virtual Real."},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2011.08.015","article-title":"My avatar and me \u2013 gender and personality predictors of avatar-self discrepancy","volume":"28","author":"Dunn","year":"2012","journal-title":"Comput. Hum. Behav."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e111933","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0111933","article-title":"Embodying compassion: a virtual reality paradigm for overcoming excessive self-criticism","volume":"9","author":"Falconer","year":"2014","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"key":"B16","first-page":"1","article-title":"Dancing with the avatars: minimal avatar customisation enhances learning in a psychomotor task","author":"Fitton","year":"2023"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/3432938","article-title":"Body, avatar, and me: the presentation and perception of self in social virtual reality","volume":"4","author":"Freeman","year":"2021","journal-title":"Proc. ACM Human-Computer Interact."},{"key":"B18","first-page":"941","article-title":"Individual differences in embodied distance estimation in virtual reality","author":"Gonzalez-Franco","year":"2019"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"392","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2016.00392","article-title":"The neurological traces of look-alike avatars","volume":"10","author":"Gonzalez-Franco","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"B20","first-page":"18","article-title":"The self-avatar follower effect in virtual reality","author":"Gonzalez-Franco","year":""},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1125","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2017.01125","article-title":"Model of illusions and virtual reality","volume":"8","author":"Gonzalez-Franco","year":"2017","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2020.561558","article-title":"The rocketbox library and the utility of freely available rigged avatars","volume":"1","author":"Gonzalez-Franco","year":"","journal-title":"Front. virtual Real."},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2018.00074","article-title":"Avatar embodiment. Towards a standardized questionnaire","volume":"5","author":"Gonzalez-Franco","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front. Robotics AI"},{"key":"B24","first-page":"111","article-title":"The contribution of real-time mirror reflections of motor actions on virtual body ownership in an immersive virtual environment","author":"Gonz\u00e1lez-Franco","year":"2010"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0209704","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0209704","article-title":"Participant concerns for the learner in a virtual reality replication of the milgram obedience study","volume":"13","author":"Gonzalez-Franco","year":"2018","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"820","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2020.00820","article-title":"Being the victim of intimate partner violence in virtual reality: first- versus third-person perspective","volume":"11","author":"Gonzalez-Liencres","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.102.1.4","article-title":"Implicit social cognition: attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes","volume":"102","author":"Greenwald","year":"1995","journal-title":"Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"945","DOI":"10.2307\/20439056","article-title":"Implicit bias: scientific foundations","volume":"94","author":"Greenwald","year":"2006","journal-title":"Calif. Law Rev."},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.85.2.197","article-title":"Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test: I. An improved scoring algorithm","volume":"85","author":"Greenwald","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. Personality Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e20195","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0020195","article-title":"Being barbie: the size of one\u2019s own body determines the perceived size of the world","volume":"6","author":"Hoort","year":"2011","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100295","DOI":"10.1016\/j.invent.2019.100295","article-title":"Using avatars in weight management settings: a systematic review","volume":"19","author":"Horne","year":"2020","journal-title":"Internet interv."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"579","DOI":"10.3390\/ejihpe10020043","article-title":"The development of a bmi-guided shape morphing technique and the effects of an individualized figure rating scale on self-perception of body size","volume":"10","author":"Hudson","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur. J. Investigation Health, Psychol. Educ."},{"key":"B33","first-page":"310","article-title":"Improving the immersion in virtual reality with real-time avatar and haptic feedback in a cricket simulation","author":"Jayaraj","year":"2017"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780198503682.001.0001","volume-title":"The theory of probability","author":"Jeffreys","year":"1998"},{"key":"B35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"969","DOI":"10.2307\/20439057","article-title":"The law of implicit bias","volume":"94","author":"Jolls","year":"2006","journal-title":"Calif. Law Rev."},{"key":"B36","first-page":"437","article-title":"Towards a taxonomy of social VR application design","author":"Jonas","year":"2019"},{"key":"B37","first-page":"1124","article-title":"Implicit bias in the courtroom","volume":"59","author":"Kang","year":"2011","journal-title":"UCLA Law Rev."},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"597","DOI":"10.1109\/tvcg.2013.29","article-title":"Drumming in immersive virtual reality: the body shapes the way we play","volume":"19","author":"Kilteni","year":"2013","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph."},{"key":"B39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"373","DOI":"10.1162\/PRES_a_00124","article-title":"The sense of embodiment in virtual reality","volume":"21","author":"Kilteni","year":"","journal-title":"Presence Teleoperators Virtual Environ."},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e40867","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0040867","article-title":"Extending body space in immersive virtual reality: a very long arm illusion","volume":"7","author":"Kilteni","year":"","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"key":"B41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1068\/p7545","article-title":"Measuring the effects through time of the influence of visuomotor and visuotactile synchronous stimulation on a virtual body ownership illusion","volume":"43","author":"Kokkinara","year":"2014","journal-title":"Perception"},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1096","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1143439","article-title":"Video ergo sum: manipulating bodily self-consciousness","volume":"317","author":"Lenggenhager","year":"2007","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"52","DOI":"10.3389\/frvir.2021.668181","article-title":"Social virtual reality platform comparison and evaluation using a guided group walkthrough method","volume":"2","author":"Liu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. Virtual Real."},{"key":"B44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"44","DOI":"10.1186\/s40337-017-0177-8","article-title":"The role of personality in body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating: discrepancies between men and women","volume":"5","author":"MacNeill","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Eat. Disord."},{"key":"B45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2016.00003","article-title":"Real virtuality: a code of ethical conduct. recommendations for good scientific practice and the consumers of vr-technology","volume":"3","author":"Madary","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Robotics AI"},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"170","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cognition.2013.04.002","article-title":"Experiencing ownership over a dark-skinned body reduces implicit racial bias","volume":"128","author":"Maister","year":"2013","journal-title":"Cognition"},{"key":"B47","first-page":"39","article-title":"Mitigating negative effects of immersive virtual avatars on racial bias","author":"Maloney","year":"2018"},{"key":"B48","first-page":"1489","article-title":"Ethical concerns of the use of virtual avatars in consumer entertainment","author":"Maloney","year":"2019"},{"key":"B49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20210453","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2021.0453","article-title":"Enhanced efficiency in visually guided online motor control for actions redirected towards the body midline","volume":"378","author":"Maselli","year":"2023","journal-title":"Philosophical Trans. R. Soc. B"},{"key":"B50","volume-title":"BayesFactor: Computation of Bayes Factors for Common Designs","author":"Morey","year":"2018"},{"key":"B51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/3590767","article-title":"A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of body ownership illusions in virtual reality","volume":"30","author":"Mottelson","year":"2023","journal-title":"ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact."},{"key":"B52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e16128","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0016128","article-title":"Multisensory stimulation can induce an illusion of larger belly size in immersive virtual reality","volume":"6","author":"Normand","year":"2011","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"key":"B53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2015.08.022","article-title":"Violating body movement semantics: neural signatures of self-generated and external-generated errors","volume":"124","author":"Padrao","year":"2016","journal-title":"NeuroImage"},{"key":"B54","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"779","DOI":"10.1016\/j.concog.2013.04.016","article-title":"Putting yourself in the skin of a black avatar reduces implicit racial bias","volume":"22","author":"Peck","year":"2013","journal-title":"Conscious. Cognition"},{"key":"B55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1945","DOI":"10.1109\/TVCG.2020.2973498","article-title":"Mind the gap: the underrepresentation of female participants and authors in virtual reality research","volume":"26","author":"Peck","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph."},{"key":"B56","volume-title":"The work avatar face-off: a survey of knowledge worker preferences for realism in meetings","author":"Phadnis","year":"2023"},{"key":"B57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e103428","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0103428","article-title":"Owning an overweight or underweight body: distinguishing the physical, experienced and virtual body","volume":"9","author":"Piryankova","year":"2014","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"key":"B58","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1038\/oby.2007.521","article-title":"Internalization of weight bias: implications for binge eating and emotional well-being","volume":"15","author":"Puhl","year":"2007","journal-title":"Obesity"},{"key":"B59","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1887","DOI":"10.1109\/TVCG.2019.2898748","article-title":"The virtual caliper: rapid creation of metrically accurate avatars from 3D measurements","volume":"25","author":"Pujades","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Vis. Comput. Graph."},{"key":"B60","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"864","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2019.00864","article-title":"Body dissatisfaction, importance of appearance, and body appreciation in men and women over the lifespan","volume":"10","author":"Quittkat","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front. Psychiatry"},{"key":"B61","unstructured":"Rec Room2021"},{"key":"B62","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"332","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn1651","article-title":"From presence to consciousness through virtual reality","volume":"6","author":"Sanchez-Vives","year":"2005","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Neurosci."},{"key":"B63","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e10381","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0010381","article-title":"Virtual hand illusion induced by visuomotor correlations","volume":"5","author":"Sanchez-Vives","year":"2010","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"key":"B64","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780195371284.001.0001","volume-title":"Being there together: social interaction in shared virtual environments","author":"Schroeder","year":"2010"},{"key":"B65","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2692","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-018-19987-7","article-title":"Offenders become the victim in virtual reality: impact of changing perspective in domestic violence","volume":"8","author":"Seinfeld","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"B66","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3549","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2009.0138","article-title":"Place illusion and plausibility can lead to realistic behaviour in immersive virtual environments","volume":"364","author":"Slater","year":"2009","journal-title":"Philosophical Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"B67","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.3389\/frobt.2014.00009","article-title":"How to build an embodiment lab: achieving body representation illusions in virtual reality","volume":"1","author":"Spanlang","year":"2014","journal-title":"Front. Robotics AI"},{"key":"B68","unstructured":"Spatial2021"},{"key":"B69","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9637","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-017-09497-3","article-title":"Embodiment in a child-like talking virtual body influences object size perception, self-identification, and subsequent real speaking","volume":"7","author":"Tajadura-Jim\u00e9nez","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"B70","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/3313831.3376606","article-title":"\u201cHow do I make this thing smile?\u201d: an inventory of expressive nonverbal communication in commercial social virtual reality platforms","volume":"20","author":"Tanenbaum","year":"2020","journal-title":"Proc. 2020. CHI. Conf. Hum. Comput. Syst."},{"key":"B71","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1525","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.ijo.0801745","article-title":"Implicit anti-fat bias among health professionals: is anyone immune?","volume":"25","author":"Teachman","year":"2001","journal-title":"Int. J. Obes."},{"key":"B72","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.3389\/fict.2018.00018","article-title":"Visual perception and evaluation of photo-realistic self-avatars from 3d body scans in males and females","volume":"5","author":"Thaler","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front. ICT"},{"key":"B73","first-page":"1","article-title":"The influence of visual perspective on body size estimation in immersive virtual reality","author":"Thaler","year":"2019"},{"key":"B74","unstructured":"VRChat2021"},{"key":"B75","volume-title":"My avatar, my self: Identity in video role-playing games","author":"Waggoner","year":"2009"},{"key":"B76","first-page":"462","article-title":"Body weight perception of females using photorealistic avatars in virtual and augmented reality","author":"Wolf","year":"2020"},{"key":"B77","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1468-2958.2007.00299.x","article-title":"The Proteus effect: the effect of transformed self-representation on behavior","volume":"33","author":"Yee","year":"2007","journal-title":"Hum. Commun. Res."},{"key":"B78","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"285","DOI":"10.1177\/0093650208330254","article-title":"The Proteus effect: implications of transformed digital self-representation on online and offline behavior","volume":"36","author":"Yee","year":"2009","journal-title":"Commun. Res."},{"key":"B79","first-page":"773","article-title":"Do men heal more when in drag? conflicting identity cues between user and avatar","author":"Yee","year":"2011"},{"key":"B80","first-page":"95","article-title":"Is the rubber hand illusion induced by immersive virtual reality?","author":"Yuan","year":"2010"},{"key":"B81","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/3597631","article-title":"Bodylab: in virtuo sculpting, painting and performing of full-body avatars","volume":"6","author":"Zeidler","year":"2023","journal-title":"Proc. ACM Comput. Graph. Interact. Tech."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Virtual Reality"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frvir.2024.1436752\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,22]],"date-time":"2024-08-22T19:15:37Z","timestamp":1724354137000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frvir.2024.1436752\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,21]]},"references-count":81,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/frvir.2024.1436752"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/frvir.2024.1436752","relation":{},"ISSN":["2673-4192"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2673-4192","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,21]]},"article-number":"1436752"}}