Design of Gradual Contemporary Wayang Visual Character Indonesia For Sticker Chatting And Game Applications

UNESCO international recognition in 2003 stated that wayang is one of Indonesia's cultural heritage, but the sense of belonging for wayang is still low among the nation's next generation of Indonesia. So at this time, both the government and the educators, still working to improve the regeneration of wayang knowledge and recognition for the young nation and the world, including through game application. In this study, the researchers created a contemporary virtual character of wayang, and will be inserted as a character sticker chatting and game application. This wayang virtual characters can be used as tools for reintroduction to young people around the world. This method will be conducted by researchers include depictions classification of facial expressions of emotion, collaborate with simplified visual approach, to obtain the corresponding visual characteristics of the wayang virtual characters. Researchers also used visual basic character as a prototype for contemporary form deformation, so it can be applied to the target games application and communication functions.

Individual’s Social Perception of Virtual Avatars Embodied with Their Habitual Facial Expressions and Facial Appearance

With the prevalence of virtual avatars and the recent emergence of metaverse technology, there has been an increase in users who express their identity through an avatar. The research community focused on improving the realistic expressions and non-verbal communication channels of virtual characters to create a more customized experience. However, there is a lack in the understanding of how avatars can embody a user’s signature expressions (i.e., user’s habitual facial expressions and facial appearance) that would provide an individualized experience. Our study focused on identifying elements that may affect the user’s social perception (similarity, familiarity, attraction, liking, and involvement) of customized virtual avatars engineered considering the user’s facial characteristics. We evaluated the participant’s subjective appraisal of avatars that embodied the participant’s habitual facial expressions or facial appearance. Results indicated that participants felt that the avatar that embodied their habitual expressions was more similar to them than the avatar that did not. Furthermore, participants felt that the avatar that embodied their appearance was more familiar than the avatar that did not. Designers should be mindful about how people perceive individuated virtual avatars in order to accurately represent the user’s identity and help users relate to their avatar.