Jérôme Guegan

Avatar-mediated creativity

An important challenge today is to support creativity while enabling geographically distant people to work together. In line with the componential theory of creativity, self-perception theory and recent research on the Proteus Effect, we investigate how avatars, which are virtual representations of the self, may be a medium for stimulating creativity. For this purpose, we conducted two studies with a population of engineering students. In the first study, 114 participants responded to online surveys in order to identify what a creative avatar may look like. This enabled us to select avatars representing inventors, which were perceived as creative by engineering students, and neutral avatars. In the second study, 54 participants brainstormed in groups of 3, in 3 different conditions: in a control face-to-face situation, in a virtual environment while embodying neutral avatars and in a virtual environment with inventor avatars. The results show that inventor avatars led to higher performance in fluency and originality of ideas. Moreover, this benefit proved to endure over time since participants allocated to inventor avatars also performed better in a subsequent face-to-face brainstorming. The prospects of using avatars for enhancing creativity-relevant processes are discussed in terms of theoretical and applicative implications. Investigated the impact of virtual environment on collaborative creativity.Designed avatars corresponding to engineers representation of a creative person.Tested the influence of creative avatars on creativity processes with engineers.Creative avatars increased performance (quantity and originality of ideas).

Using avatars to tailor ideation process to innovation strategy

To face innovation challenges of the twenty-first century, companies should learn from proven successful strategies and draw on technological evolutions as well. Our proposal consists in aligning ideation to innovation strategies through the use of avatars in a virtual world. On the basis of the Persona method and the Proteus effect, we design avatars’ appearance so as to implement a Need-seeker or a Technology-driver innovation strategy. To test the effectiveness of this avatar-mediated innovation tool, we conducted an experiment in a French company. Two groups of highly qualified employees from the innovation department had to find applications for smart windows in public transportation. Both groups experienced immersion in a virtual transportation situation: one group embodied avatars resembling Inventors, whereas the other group embodied Personas representing users of public transportation. As expected, avatars’ appearance proved to influence the creative production: the Inventor condition led to a techno-centered ideation profile, oriented toward technological solutions, while the Persona condition led to more user-centered, needs-oriented ideas. Consistently, Inventors’ production tended to be better evaluated through industrial criteria and Personas’ production tended to be better evaluated by transportation users. We discuss the use of avatar-mediated creativity as a strategic tool for companies seeking to innovate.

Social identity cues to improve creativity and identification in face-to-face and virtual groups

This research draws on the social identity approach to investigate group performance in face-to-face and virtual brainstorming settings. In particular, we display Social Identity Cues (SIC) on participants or on avatars to foster group membership. We compare four conditions in a factorial design: Brainstorming in Face-to-face or Virtual setting, With or Without SIC. Seventy-two students belonging to a population with a strong social identity participated in the experiment, using their traditional clothing as SIC. The results show that the presence of SIC led to increased creative performance both in face-to-face and virtual settings. SIC also increased group identification, but only in the virtual environment. These results highlight the potential of avatars to support teamwork in a meaningful way. Traditional clothing of a specific student group acts as social identity cues.Face-to-face and avatar-mediated electronic brainstorming are compared.Impact of social identity cues is examined in face-to-face and virtual groups.Social identity cues improved performance both in real and virtual settings.

Learning empathy through virtual reality : Multiple strategies for training empathy-related abilities using body ownership Illusions in embodied virtual reality

Several disciplines have investigated the interconnected empathic abilities behind the proverb “to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” to determine how the presence, and absence, of empathy-related phenomena affect prosocial behavior and intergroup relations. Empathy enables us to learn from others’ pain and to know when to offer support. Similarly, virtual reality (VR) appears to allow individuals to step into someone else’s shoes, through a perceptual illusion called embodiment, or the body ownership illusion. Considering these perspectives, we propose a theoretical analysis of different mechanisms of empathic practices in order to define a possible framework for the design of empathic training in VR. This is not intended to be an extensive review of all types of practices, but an exploration of empathy and empathy-related phenomena. Empathy-related training practices are analyzed and categorized. We also identify different variables used by pioneer studies in VR to promote empathy-related responses. Finally, we propose strategies for using embodied VR technology to train specific empathy-related abilities.

“Wrong place to get help”: A field experiment on luxury stores and helping behavior

Abstract Three experiments were conducted in field settings. It was hypothesized that luxury stores may act as environmental reminders of materialism and that helpfulness would vary according to the presence or absence of such cues. Study 1 (N = 80) indicated that consumers coming out of famous brand stores displayed less helpfulness, as compared to mere passersby. Study 2 (N = 112) showed passersby were less helpful near a luxury brand store than in an ordinary street with no shops. In Study 3 (N = 360), passersby were less helpful when walking down a street lined with highly exclusive stores, as compared to streets with ordinary stores or no stores. Results, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Anticipating user's needs with playful methods

We are interested to improve the process of innovative design with playful methods and tools used by the design teams. We tested the Persona method which is considered as fun, with a playful technological support, namely an Interactive Tabletop system, in an industrial project. Twenty-four participants (15 men and 9 women, aged 22 to 37) specialized in engineering design, formalized user requirements for an ambient device in one of the following conditions: Persona method used on Post It notes and Persona method used on Tabletop system. Our results show that the Tabletop condition is the more effective regarding quantity, originality, usefulness and technical feasibility of the ideas generated. These results suggest that the fun of this condition (Persona on Tabletop) is likely to improve the performance of the design team.

“I'd like to be under the sea”: Contextual cues in virtual environments influence the orientation of idea generation

Abstract Several studies have urged to explore the connections between virtual environments and creativity, both to study the processes underlying creativity and to support improved performance in creative tasks. Virtual environments, in particular, allow fine control over contextual cues present in the environment, which may serve as inspiration for creative work. However, using this potential to the fullest requires a detailed understanding of how the environment may influence creative processes. The literature suggests that contextual cues present in the environment may guide the exploration of specific categories of ideas, leading to increased originality; but also that examples of solutions – which are, undoubtedly, contextual cues themselves – may lead to reduced creativity through a conformity effect. We successively conducted two experiments in virtual environments. In the first, we manipulated the contents of the environment to prime specific concepts – water or forest – and examined the effects on creative output in a divergent thinking task. In the second experiment, we manipulated the nature of the environment and the presence or absence of examples of solutions, and examined the output of a task involving drawing alien creatures. In both experiments, the contents of environment influenced the nature of the creative output by priming specific concepts.

The Flow Engine Framework: A cognitive model of optimal human experience

Flow is a well-known concept in the fields of positive and applied psychology. Examination of a large body of flow literature suggests there is a need for a conceptual model rooted in a cognitive approach to explain how this psychological phenomenon works. In this paper, we propose the Flow Engine Framework, a theoretical model explaining dynamic interactions between rearranged flow components and fundamental cognitive processes. Using an IPO framework (Inputs – Processes – Outputs) including a feedback process, we organize flow characteristics into three logically related categories: inputs (requirements for flow), mediating and moderating cognitive processes (attentional and motivational mechanisms) and outputs (subjective and objective outcomes), describing the process of the flow. Comparing flow with an engine, inputs are depicted as flow-fuel, core processes cylinder strokes and outputs as power created to provide motion.

Technological Innovation in Group Creativity

This chapter presents ongoing research dedicated to augmenting creativity through innovative technologies. Our hypotheses draw on the pros and cons of the brainstorming paradigm to strengthen the former and overcome the latter. The main efficiency factors we are trying to support are Cognitive stimulation, Social comparison, and Group facilitation, while trying to circumvent Production blocking, Social loafing, and Self-censorship. The first technology reviewed is electronic brainstorming systems: It was shown that such devices enable groups, even large ones, to avoid production blocking. However, it may also increase social loafing, which is detrimental to creativity. We then introduce interactive tabletop brainstorming with which groups can conciliate individual reflection, idea sharing, and social setting. We show that this technology reduces social loafing, and we provide interface designs that further support cognitive stimulation, social comparison, and group facilitation. This series of experiments also highlights a new efficiency factor for creativity, namely the Fun factor: The use of innovative technology in itself introduces playfulness, which seems to increase engagement and creative performance. Finally, we report on a recent series of experiments exploring avatar-mediated creativity as a means to counter self-censorship through anonymity and enhance creativity through avatars’ appearance. The results confirm that the choice of avatars in virtual brainstorming greatly influences creativity through processes such as self-perception, priming, and social identity. In many respects, avatars and virtual environments offer a new promising tool to support group creativity. We conclude on the potential impact of these findings on real-world innovation challenges.