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Valletta, Elisa ; Babl, Anna-Lena ; Reichert, Emma Sophie ; Pickl, Michael ; Schwind, Valentin ; Kocur, Martin ; Henze, Niels

Sustained Effects of Avatars on Skin Temperature and Thermal Sensation in Virtual Reality

Valletta, Elisa, Babl, Anna-Lena, Reichert, Emma Sophie, Pickl, Michael , Schwind, Valentin, Kocur, Martin and Henze, Niels (2025) Sustained Effects of Avatars on Skin Temperature and Thermal Sensation in Virtual Reality. In: MUM '25: 24th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia, December 1 - 4, 2025, Enna, Italy.

Date of publication of this fulltext: 30 Jan 2026 11:24
Conference or workshop item
DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.78544


Abstract

Perceived temperature and thermoregulation are not only influenced by actual temperature but also by visual perception. For instance, the hue-heat hypothesis posits that warm-colored lighting can increase perceived temperature. Recent work indicates that embodying avatars with visual cues suggesting extreme temperatures influences thermal perception and thermoregulation. However, recent work is ...

Perceived temperature and thermoregulation are not only influenced by actual temperature but also by visual perception. For instance, the hue-heat hypothesis posits that warm-colored lighting can increase perceived temperature. Recent work indicates that embodying avatars with visual cues suggesting extreme temperatures influences thermal perception and thermoregulation. However, recent work is limited by short exposure times, inconsistent temperature effects, and the absence of a baseline comparison. Thus, we conducted a study where participants embodied ice, neutral, and fire hands in virtual reality for 15 minutes. We show that thermal sensation is significantly higher with fire hands compared to ice hands, but found no consistent effects on skin temperature. As the effects on thermal sensation remain consistent at least over 15 minutes, we conclude that avatars’ appearance can be used to systematically influence users’ thermal perception.



Involved Institutions


Details

Item typeConference or workshop item (Paper)
Title of Book:Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia
Page Range:pp. 263-272
Date2025
InstitutionsLanguages and Literatures > Institut für Information und Medien, Sprache und Kultur (I:IMSK) > Lehrstuhl für Medieninformatik (Prof. Dr. Christian Wolff)
Informatics and Data Science > Department Human-Centered Computing > Lehrstuhl für Medieninformatik (Prof. Dr. Christian Wolff)
Projects
Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (521603563)
Identification Number
ValueType
10.1145/3771882.3771885DOI
Keywordsvirtual reality, thermal perception, thermal comfort, skin temperature, hue-heat hypothesis
Dewey Decimal Classification000 Computer science, information & general works > 004 Computer science
StatusPublished
RefereedYes, this version has been refereed
Created at the University of RegensburgPartially
URN of the UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-785449
Item ID78544

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