Creating Inclusive Avatars Sources

Motivations Behind Avatars Choices

¹ Vasalou, A., & Joinson, A. N. (2009). Me, myself and I: The role of interactional context on self-presentation through avatars. Computers in human behavior, 25(2), 510-520.
² Blockchain Research Lab. (March 2023). Avatars: Shaping Digital Identity in the Metaverse.
³ Puri, A., Baker, S., Hoang, T. N., & Zuffi, R. C. (2017, November). To be (me) or not to be? Photorealistic avatars and older adults. In Proceedings of the 29th Australian conference on computer-human interaction (pp. 503-507).
⁴ Passmore, C. J., & Mandryk, R. (2018, October). An about face: Diverse representation in games. In Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 365-380).
⁵ Harper, T. (2020). Endowed by their creator: Digital games, avatar creation, and fat bodies. Fat Studies, 9(3), 259-280.
⁶ Williams, J. (2019). The erasure of virtual blackness: An ideation about authentic black hairstyles in speculative digital environments. Journal of Futures Studies, 24(2), 37-46.
⁷ Blockchain Research Lab. (March 2023). Avatars: Shaping Digital Identity in the Metaverse.
⁸ Ducheneaut, N., Wen, M. H., Yee, N., & Wadley, G. (2009, April). Body and mind: a study of avatar personalization in three virtual worlds. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1151-1160).
⁹ Blockchain Research Lab. (March 2023). Avatars: Shaping Digital Identity in the Metaverse.
¹⁰ Mack, K., Hsu, R. C., Monroy-Hernández, A., Smith, B. A., & Liu, F. (2023). Towards inclusive avatars: Disability representation in avatar platforms. Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581481

Determining Avatar Presets

¹¹Freeman, G., & Maloney, D. (2021). Body, avatar, and me: The presentation and perception of self in social virtual reality. Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction, 4(CSCW3), 1-27.
¹² Neustaedter, C., & Fedorovskaya, E. A. (2009, May). Presenting identity in a virtual world through avatar appearances. In Graphics Interface (pp. 183-190).
¹³Freeman, G., & Maloney, D. (2021). Body, avatar, and me: The presentation and perception of self in social virtual reality. Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction, 4(CSCW3), 1-27.
¹⁴ Pandita, S., Humphreys, L. H., & Won, A. S. (2023). The Paradox of Customization: Negotiating racial identity with" multiple choice" in avatar creation.
¹⁵ EGAL Expert Interview
¹⁶Pagano, A. S., Mayer, F. A., & Gonçalves, L. N. F. (2020). Accessibility of Visual Content in Mobile Apps: Insights from Visually Impaired Users. In The Palgrave Handbook of Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility (pp. 459-482). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
¹⁷Passmore, C. J., & Mandryk, R. (2018, October). An about face: Diverse representation in games. In Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 365-380).
¹⁸Heldreth, C. M., Monk, E. P., Clark, A. T., Schumann, C., Eyee, X., & Ricco, S. (2024). Which skin tone measures are the most inclusive? an investigation of skin tone measures for artificial intelligence. ACM Journal on Responsible Computing, 1(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1145/3632120
¹⁹Passmore and Mandryk 2018:317

Prioritizing Certain Presets

²⁰ Passmore, C. J., & Mandryk, R. (2018, October). An about face: Diverse representation in games. In Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 365-380).
²¹ McArthur, V., & Jenson, J. (2014, December). E is for everyone? Best practices for the socially inclusive design of avatar creation interfaces. In Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interactive Entertainment (pp. 1-8).
²² Towards Inclusive Avatars: Disability Representation in Avatar Platforms
²³ Lee, J.-E. R. (2014). Does virtual diversity matter?: Effects of avatar-based diversity representation on willingness to express offline racial identity and avatar customization. Computers in Human Behavior, 36, 190–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.03.040
²⁴ Freeman, G., & Maloney, D. (2021). Body, avatar, and me: The presentation and perception of self in social virtual reality. Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction, 4(CSCW3), 1-27.
²⁵ Tadros, M. (2010). E-hijab: Muslim Women in the Metaverse. International Journal of Learning and Media, 2(2-3), 45-61.
²⁶ Mack, K., Hsu, R. C. L., Monroy-Hernández, A., Smith, B. A., & Liu, F. (2023, April). Towards inclusive avatars: Disability representation in avatar platforms. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13).
²⁷ Zhang, K., Deldari, E., Lu, Z., Yao, Y., & Zhao, Y. (2022, October). “it’s just part of me:” understanding avatar diversity and self-presentation of people with disabilities in social virtual reality. In Proceedings of the 24th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on computers and accessibility (pp. 1-16).
²⁸McArthur, V., & Jenson, J. (2014, December). E is for everyone? Best practices for the socially inclusive design of avatar creation interfaces. In Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interactive Entertainment (pp. 1-8).
²⁹The (Dis)Invention of Black Women: A Rhetorical Analysis of Intersectional Oppression within Cosmetics Practices

Capturing Nuances

³⁰Passmore, C. J., & Mandryk, R. (2018, October). An about face: Diverse representation in games. In Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 365-380).
³¹ Narcisse, E. (2017, February). “The Natural: The trouble portraying blackness in video games.” Kotaku.
³² Harper, T. (2020). Endowed by their creator: Digital games, avatar creation, and fat bodies. Fat Studies, 9(3), 259-280.
³³ Passmore and Mandryk 2018:317
³⁴ Words for skin tone: How to describe skin color. Tumblr. (2014, September 7). https://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/post/96830966357/words-for-skin-tone-how-to-describe-skin-color
³⁵ 4 easy ways to find your skin undertone - maybelline. Maybelline New York. (n.d.). https://www.maybelline.com/makeup-tips/face/face-makeup-tutorials-for-beginners/how-to-find-your-skin-undertone
³⁶ Mack, Kelly, et al. "Towards inclusive avatars: Disability representation in avatar platforms." Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2023.
³⁷ Narcisse, E. (2017, February 13). The natural: The trouble portraying blackness in video games. Kotaku. https://kotaku.com/the-natural-the-trouble-portraying-blackness-in-video-1736504384
³⁸ Freeman, G., & Maloney, D. (2021). Body, avatar, and me: The presentation and perception of self in social virtual reality. Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction, 4(CSCW3), 1-27.
³⁹ Purcell, A. (2022). When Virtual Meets Reality: A Qualitative Exploration of Identity and Decision-Making in Video Game Avatar Customization (Master's thesis, Wake Forest University).
⁴⁰ Freeman, G., & Acena, D. (2022). " Acting Out" Queer Identity: The Embodied Visibility in Social Virtual Reality. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6(CSCW2), 1-32.
⁴¹ Basu, T. (2021, November 16). The metaverse is the next venue for Body Dysmorphia Online. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/11/16/1040174/facebook-metaverse-body-dysmorphia/
⁴² Freeman, G., & Maloney, D. (2021). Body, avatar, and me: The presentation and perception of self in social virtual reality. Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction, 4(CSCW3), 1-27.

Building "Starter Avatars"

⁴³ Bonilla-Silva, E., Goar, C., & Embrick, D. G. (2006). When whites flock together: The social psychology of white habitus. Critical sociology, 32(2-3), 229-253.
⁴⁴ Lee, J. E. R. (2014). Does virtual diversity matter?: Effects of avatar-based diversity representation on willingness to express offline racial identity and avatar customization. Computers in Human Behavior, 36, 190-197.
⁴⁵ McArthur, V., & Jenson, J. (2014, December). E is for everyone? Best practices for the socially inclusive design of avatar creation interfaces. In Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interactive Entertainment (pp. 1-8).
⁴⁶ McArthur, V., & Jenson, J. (2014, December). E is for everyone? Best practices for the socially inclusive design of avatar creation interfaces. In Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interactive Entertainment (pp. 1-8).

Inclusive Avatar Labels

⁴⁷ Jørgensen, P. E. F., & Isaksson, M. (2010). 18. Credibility in corporate discourse. Pragmatics across languages and cultures, 513.
⁴⁸ Puhl, R. M. (2020). What words should we use to talk about weight? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies examining preferences for weight‐related terminology. Obesity Reviews, 21(6), e13008.
⁴⁹ EGAL’s Inclusive language playbook
⁵⁰ Bennett, C. L., Gleason, C., Scheuerman, M. K., Bigham, J. P., Guo, A., & To, A. (2021, May). “It’s complicated”: Negotiating accessibility and (mis) representation in image descriptions of race, gender, and disability. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-19).
⁵¹ Expert interview conducted by EGAL
⁵² Expert interview conducted by EGAL
⁵³ Jablonski, N. G. (2020). Skin color and race. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 175(2), 437–447. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24200
⁵⁴ Bennett, C. L., Gleason, C., Scheuerman, M. K., Bigham, J. P., Guo, A., & To, A. (2021, May). “It’s complicated”: Negotiating accessibility and (mis) representation in image descriptions of race, gender, and disability. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-19).
⁵⁵ Adegbite, T. (2022, January 29). The case for describing race in alternative text attributes. Medium. https://ux.shopify.com/the-case-for-describing-race-in-alternative-text-attributes-a093380634f2
⁵⁶ Bennett, C. L., Gleason, C., Scheuerman, M. K., Bigham, J. P., Guo, A., & To, A. (2021, May). “It’s complicated”: Negotiating accessibility and (mis) representation in image descriptions of race, gender, and disability. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-19).
⁵⁷ The (Dis)Invention of Black Women: A Rhetorical Analysis of Intersectional Oppression within Cosmetics Practices
⁵⁸ Heisel, L. (2023). 8.3 Communication Barriers. Organizational Behavior-UMSL Comm 2231.