Avatar Types Matter: Review of Avatar Literature for Performance Purposes

The use of avatars as learning agents is becoming increasingly popular in the sports, education and military domains due to the rapid advance‐ ment in distributive technologies (e.g., internet, virtual worlds, etc.). When it comes to military and sports, Simulation-Based Training has proven to be cost-effective, due largely to restrictions on time, costs and safety [1]. As virtual reality and virtual worlds have become cheaper and more powerful in computer terms, the subject of how an avatar relates to an avateer (the avatar’s controller) is becoming increasingly popular. More precisely, interest rests on how an avatar’s appearance may promote or disrupt training objec‐ tives, by affecting the behavior or the psychology of a user, and thus subse‐ quently raising or degrading learning. Virtual simulations for training have often shared the aspect of avatars found in Virtual Reality, video games, and Virtual Worlds. This paper examines how avatar representation can provide insight into manipulating avatar appearance for training demands. Existing literature suggests avatars act as drivers for affective changes in attitude and motivation, and can be integrated into an instructional strategy.