By Dr. Randall W. Hill, Jr, Vice Dean, Viterbi School of Engineering, Omar B. Milligan Professor in Computer Science (Games and Interactive Media), Executive Director, ICT
The IEEE VR Best Paper Awards have just been announced in St. Malo, France, and we are proud to say that USC ICT’s Affective Computing Group is featured among them.
How Collaboration Context and Personality Traits Shape the Social Norms of Human-to-Avatar Identity Representation (Seoyoung Kang, KAIST; Boram Yoon, KI-ITC ARRC; KAIST; Kangsoo Kim, University of Calgary; Jonathan Gratch, University of Southern California; Woontack Woo, KAIST) won Best Paper for its research investigating the effects when avatars evolve from digital representations into identity extensions, enabling unprecedented self-expression beyond physical limitations.
The lead author, Seoyoung Kang is a PhD candidate in Augmented Reality and Human Computer Interaction at Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST).
From Dec 2021 – Feb 2022, Kang was a Research Scholar (intern) at ICT. We are proud of our internship program, and the interdisciplinary opportunities it provides for creative and technical students wishing to pursue careers in simulation, interactive media and virtual reality fields.
During her time at ICT, Kang was supervised by Dr. Jonathan Gratch, who leads the Affective Computing Group, which advances research into the role of emotion in human and human-machine interaction. This includes automatic analysis and understanding of multimodal affective signals, computational models of how emotions arise from and shape social cognition, and the application of these methods to human-machine teaming, interpersonal skills training and advancing theories of human emotion.
In How Collaboration Context and Personality Traits Shape the Social Norms of Human-to-Avatar Identity Representation, her winning paper at IEEE VR 2025, Kang and her co-authors surveyed 150 participants and investigated social norms surrounding avatar modifications in various contexts.
Their results showed that modifications are viewed more favorably from a partner’s perspective, especially for changeable attributes, but are less acceptable in professional settings. Individuals with high self-monitoring are more resistant to changes, while those with higher Machiavellian traits show greater acceptance. These findings suggest creating context-sensitive customization options that balance core identity elements with personality-driven preferences while respecting social norms.
Dr. Gratch, who supervised Seoyoung Kang, said: “This research lends valuable insights into the design of future collaboration technology such as the metaverse.”
“A fundamental issue in collaboration work is trust, which is ultimately an emotional decision, Professor Gratch continued. “Traditionally, we build trust through face-to-face interactions with potential collaborators to better understand their character. Just as people wear makeup or change their clothing to fit into a social situation, technology like “beauty filters” and voice cloning give users unprecedented control over how they present their character in virtual interactions. These transformations can have potential benefits, allowing people to protect their identity, enhance their reputation and avoid discrimination, yet these can create negative feelings and undermine trust. This study gives insight into social norms around “virtual impression management” and can inform the design of future collaboration technology.”
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