Towards realistic female avatar creation a tool for virtual actor design and player choice

Abstract

Female gamer numbers are on the rise, but females have been disproportionately underrepresented and inaccurately portrayed in video games. Recent findings also reveal many negative effects misrepresentation can have on women's self esteem and body image. Based on a review of the literature on media effects, and using available anthropometric data, we propose a more realistic and responsive character creation tool for the designers of virtual agents and as a basis for researchers to assess the impact of female character models on the enjoyment and self-concept of the players. We first report on studies regarding media effects on women as well as the current situation regarding female player avatars as well as NPCs in games, followed by our approach towards more realistic avatar creation. © 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland.