Initial Investigations into Information Retention and Perception on Virtual Human Race

Virtual human avatars have long been studied in the field of embodied conversational agents. Most studies have focused on understanding how verbal and non-verbal cues build long-term relationships, trust, and credibility. Some studies have even gone as far as looking into characteristics like clothes, accessories, and race to see what effects they may have on the interlocutor. We seek feedback on an investigative study where we look to better understand how avatar race affects the perception of the avatar, information retention, and eye gaze behavior. We discuss the technical design and research methodology.