Fostering Empathy and Privacy: The Effect of Using Expressive Avatars for Remote Communication

The importance of effective remote communication is currently being emphasized as education moves from offline to online due to acceleration of the Untact Era (a contact-free society). In this study, we analyze the hindrances to effective distance learning, observe the effect on users of communicating through Expressive Avatar (EA), and suggest effective ways to use EA. First, through a questionnaire, 84% of the respondents quantitatively demonstrated experiencing a psychological burden due to exposure of their faces, in addition to low concentration during remote classes. Second, through in-depth interviews, they were found to prefer to replace their images with two- and/or three-dimensional avatars and believed that the avatars’ unique characteristics were important. Content using EA is expected to contribute to improved quality in distance learning by reducing psychological burden and promoting transmission of emotions.