Aliens versus Humans: Do Avatars Make a Difference in How We Play the Game?

An immersive first-person 3D computer game was designed and developed to investigate if the visual characteristics of a player´s avatar influences their behavior. Two types of gender-matched biped avatar were used: Normal looking Humanoids and tougher looking Aliens. In the game, players had to block incoming projectiles fired from two canons with their hands. The number of times the players were hit as well as a measure of how hard they hit the projectiles was recorded. Results show differences in these measures dependent on the type of avatar used, in line with previous findings whereby people appear to be influenced by the perceived characteristics of their digital representation.