Has anyone seen this?
Gender-bending avatars inspire less trust
...The study reveals that androgynous digital personas (avatars) are perceived as less trustworthy than ones that are clearly either male or female.
It also seems that people typically extend this impression to the person behind the avatar too. The results hint that avatar design and behaviour may have a range of unforeseen psychological influences and that such virtual personas need to be carefully designed to make the right impression, the researchers argue.
Full story:
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn12199&feedId=online-news_rss20
...The study reveals that androgynous digital personas (avatars) are perceived as less trustworthy than ones that are clearly either male or female.
It also seems that people typically extend this impression to the person behind the avatar too. The results hint that avatar design and behaviour may have a range of unforeseen psychological influences and that such virtual personas need to be carefully designed to make the right impression, the researchers argue.
Full story:
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn12199&feedId=online-news_rss20