Generating Look-Alike Avatars: Perception of Head Shape, Texture Fidelity and Head Orientation of Another User's Look-Alike Avatar

Using photorealistic look-alike avatars may enhance the likeability and realism of avatars in collaborative virtual environments. This research seeks to determine the influence of head shape, texture fidelity and head orientation of a look-alike avatar on perception of likeability and visual realism, especially when judged by other people. Two textured look-alike avatars were generated using: (i) three-dimensional (3D) stereophotogrammetry; and (ii) 3D face reconstruction from a single full-face image. Participants compared three different head orientations (0°, 45°, 90°) of the look-alike avatars' textured heads to their corresponding head silhouettes, to emphasize the differences in head shapes. Results suggest that participants prefer geometrically accurate photorealistic avatars of other people due to the accuracy of the head shape and texture fidelity. Participants ranked the likeability and realism of the look-alike avatars similarly regardless of the head orientation.