How Avatar User Visual Incongruities Impact the Sense of Embodiment in Virtual Reality: A Systematic Review

Virtual reality (VR) is considered a technological megatrend that is driving the digitization of all aspects of human life. Avatars, virtual bodies controlled by users, play an important role in VR. Many scholars consider the sense of embodiment as a key affordance of avatars. However, our understanding of how to optimize embodiment through avatar representation in VR remains underdeveloped. This study systematically reviewed a body of 43 studies from 41 research papers that investigated the manipulations of avatars in VR. The corpus was coded with head-mounted display (HMD) models, avatar creation tools, mirror use, task context, and avatar manipulations. Based on these experiment-based studies, we discuss how different types of avatar representations affect users’ embodiment. Based on the findings, we indicate practical implications of avatar design in VR applications.