Institute For The Future

Healthy Avatars, Healthy Living

A preliminary study from RTI has found that Virtual World users with thin, active avatars are significantly more likely to be active and healthy in the physical world. Specifically, while 80 percent of Second Life users whose avatars participate in vigorous exercise also say they exercise in the physical world at least once a week, only 57 percent of users whose avatars do not exercise in the virtual world report exercising in the physical world.

Interestingly, not only did the level of virtual activity affect physical health and exercise, but Second Life users adjust their self-perceptions based on the physical build of avatars they interact with. As part of the study, researchers created a thin and an obese avatar to interview participants and found that:

 

[A]lmost three-fourths of respondents interviewed by a thin avatar described their avatar shape as thin, while only one-third of respondents interviewed by a heavy avatar described their avatar shape as thin.

"Avatar-respondents are more likely to report a higher real-life BMI to a heavy avatar than to a thin avatar because a heavy avatar conveys that a higher BMI is more socially acceptable," [lead researcher Elizabeth] Dean said.

 

All of the caveats of early studies apply: The study only had 29 participants, and nothing the researchers found implies any causal links, just associations between virtual and physical activity levels.

But I don't think the preliminary results are surprising. As we illustrated in this artifact from our Health Care 2020 research, virtual technologies have the potential to become increasingly persuasive, visceral tools for altering self-perceptions of health and encouraging people to make healthier choices.