Does Character’s Visual Style Affect Viewer’s Perception of Signing Avatars?

The paper reports a study that aimed to determine whether character’s visual style has an effect on how signing avatars are perceived by viewers. The stimuli of the study were two polygonal characters that presented two different visual styles: stylized and realistic. Each character signed four sentences. Forty-seven participants with experience in American Sign Language (ASL) viewed the animated signing clips in random order via web survey. They (1) identified the signed sentences (if recognizable), (2) rated their legibility, and (3) rated the appeal of the signing avatar. Findings show that while character’s visual style does not have an effect on subjects’ perceived legibility of the signs and sign recognition, it has an effect on their interest in the character. The stylized signing avatar was perceived as more appealing than the realistic one.