Lehmann, NoraKruse, LucieSteinicke, FrankStolze, MarkusLoch, FriederBaldauf, MatthiasAlt, FlorianSchneegass, ChristinaKosch, ThomasHirzle, TeresaSadeghian, ShadanDraxler, FionaBektas, KenanLohan, KatrinKnierim, Pascal2023-08-242023-08-242023https://dl.gi.de/handle/20.500.12116/42014Virtual agents (VAs) can be used in a variety of scenarios, e.g. as assistants or in exergame tutorials. One of the advantages of VAs is that they can be customized to the user’s needs. Still, little research is done on preferences for the appearance of agents, especially when user groups are of mixed age. This work explores the effect of the species (abstract, animal, and human) of the agent on several dependent variables: user experience, anthropomorphism, animacy, likeability, and perceived intelligence. Therefore, an experimental study with a within-subject design was conducted. Furthermore, the effect of the user’s personality on the perception was investigated. Main findings were that people that had a high score in the openness to new experiences trait rated embodied agents significantly higher in likeability and animacy than people with a low score. This work highlights the importance of tailoring the appearance of agents to the users.envirtual reality exergames older adults virtual agentsText/Conference Paper10.1145/3603555.3608565