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Effects of avatar shape and motion on mirror neuron system activity
Humanness is an important characteristic for facilitating interpersonal communication, particularly through avatars in the metaverse. In this study, we explored the mirror neuron system (MNS) as a potential neural basis for perceiving humanness in avatars. Although previous research suggests that th...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10582709/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37859767 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1173185 |
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author | Miyamoto, Yuki Uchitomi, Hirotaka Miyake, Yoshihiro |
author_facet | Miyamoto, Yuki Uchitomi, Hirotaka Miyake, Yoshihiro |
author_sort | Miyamoto, Yuki |
collection | PubMed |
description | Humanness is an important characteristic for facilitating interpersonal communication, particularly through avatars in the metaverse. In this study, we explored the mirror neuron system (MNS) as a potential neural basis for perceiving humanness in avatars. Although previous research suggests that the MNS may be influenced by human-like shape and motion, the results have been inconsistent due to the diversity and complexity of the MNS investigation. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of shape and motion humanness in avatars on MNS activity. Participants viewed videos of avatars with four different shapes (HumanShape, AngularShape, AbbreviatedShape, and ScatteredShape) and two types of motion (HumanMotion and LinearMotion), and their μ-wave attenuation in the electroencephalogram was evaluated. Results from a questionnaire indicated that HumanMotion was perceived as human-like, while AbbreviatedShape and ScatteredShape were seen as non-human-like. AngularShape’s humanity was indefinite. The MNS was activated as expected for avatars with human-like shapes and/or motions. However, for non-human-like motions, there were differences in activity trends depending on the avatar shape. Specifically, avatars with HumanShape and ScatteredShape in LinearMotion activated the MNS, but the MNS was indifferent to AngularShape and AbbreviatedShape. These findings suggest that when avatars make non-human-like motions, the MNS is activated not only for human-like appearance but also for the scattered and exaggerated appearance of the human body in the avatar shape. These findings could enhance inter-avatar communication by considering brain activity. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10582709 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-105827092023-10-19 Effects of avatar shape and motion on mirror neuron system activity Miyamoto, Yuki Uchitomi, Hirotaka Miyake, Yoshihiro Front Hum Neurosci Human Neuroscience Humanness is an important characteristic for facilitating interpersonal communication, particularly through avatars in the metaverse. In this study, we explored the mirror neuron system (MNS) as a potential neural basis for perceiving humanness in avatars. Although previous research suggests that the MNS may be influenced by human-like shape and motion, the results have been inconsistent due to the diversity and complexity of the MNS investigation. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of shape and motion humanness in avatars on MNS activity. Participants viewed videos of avatars with four different shapes (HumanShape, AngularShape, AbbreviatedShape, and ScatteredShape) and two types of motion (HumanMotion and LinearMotion), and their μ-wave attenuation in the electroencephalogram was evaluated. Results from a questionnaire indicated that HumanMotion was perceived as human-like, while AbbreviatedShape and ScatteredShape were seen as non-human-like. AngularShape’s humanity was indefinite. The MNS was activated as expected for avatars with human-like shapes and/or motions. However, for non-human-like motions, there were differences in activity trends depending on the avatar shape. Specifically, avatars with HumanShape and ScatteredShape in LinearMotion activated the MNS, but the MNS was indifferent to AngularShape and AbbreviatedShape. These findings suggest that when avatars make non-human-like motions, the MNS is activated not only for human-like appearance but also for the scattered and exaggerated appearance of the human body in the avatar shape. These findings could enhance inter-avatar communication by considering brain activity. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-10-04 /pmc/articles/PMC10582709/ /pubmed/37859767 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1173185 Text en Copyright © 2023 Miyamoto, Uchitomi and Miyake. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Human Neuroscience Miyamoto, Yuki Uchitomi, Hirotaka Miyake, Yoshihiro Effects of avatar shape and motion on mirror neuron system activity |
title | Effects of avatar shape and motion on mirror neuron system activity |
title_full | Effects of avatar shape and motion on mirror neuron system activity |
title_fullStr | Effects of avatar shape and motion on mirror neuron system activity |
title_full_unstemmed | Effects of avatar shape and motion on mirror neuron system activity |
title_short | Effects of avatar shape and motion on mirror neuron system activity |
title_sort | effects of avatar shape and motion on mirror neuron system activity |
topic | Human Neuroscience |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10582709/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37859767 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1173185 |
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