Evaluating Behavioral Realism in AR and VR: A Comparison of Single-Point IK and Full-Body Motion Capture Virtual Humans

Evaluating Behavioral Realism in AR and VR: A Comparison of Single-Point IK and Full-Body Motion Capture Virtual Humans | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Evaluating Behavioral Realism in AR and VR: A Comparison of Single-Point IK and Full-Body Motion Capture Virtual Humans Elhassan Makled, Christoph Gerhardt, Tobias Schwandt, Florian Weidner, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6354819/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Jun, 2025 Read the published version in The Visual Computer → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Behavioral realism plays a crucial role in virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). Various avatar animation techniques, ranging from full-body motion capture to single-point inverse kinematics (IK), offer different levels of realism. While the animation of a user’s own avatar influences embodiment, the perceived realism of others’ avatars is equally important for immersion. This study (N=53) examines how users in smartphone AR, head-mounted display (HMD) AR, and VR perceive the behavioral realism of avatars animated with single-point IK compared to those driven by full-body motion capture. Additionally, we explore whether congruence between an avatar’s visual fidelity and tracking accuracy affects perception. Our findings indicate that full-body motion capture produces significantly higher perceived realism than single-point IK, but device type has no measurable impact. Furthermore, while congruence between visual realism and tracking fidelity was expected to play a role, our results suggest its influence is limited. Despite lower realism than motion capture, modern IK techniques are still perceived positively, highlighting their viability for multi-user AR and VR applications. Virtual reality Augmented Reality Avatars Behavioral Realism Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 02 Jun, 2025 Read the published version in The Visual Computer → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Accepted 21 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 18 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 17 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Apr, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 02 Apr, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 02 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 02 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 01 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6354819","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":445689258,"identity":"bf047703-1f14-4388-90b4-36838c4b1169","order_by":0,"name":"Elhassan Makled","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Ilmenau University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elhassan","middleName":"","lastName":"Makled","suffix":""},{"id":445689259,"identity":"54a9aecb-015d-4de2-b5d1-4b4668533ac6","order_by":1,"name":"Christoph Gerhardt","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ilmenau University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christoph","middleName":"","lastName":"Gerhardt","suffix":""},{"id":445689261,"identity":"a52c8d79-89c4-425a-b47a-afcde84fa6fa","order_by":2,"name":"Tobias Schwandt","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ilmenau University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tobias","middleName":"","lastName":"Schwandt","suffix":""},{"id":445689262,"identity":"4c818b09-07a7-4a26-8619-e6820ef7be6e","order_by":3,"name":"Florian Weidner","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lancaster University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Florian","middleName":"","lastName":"Weidner","suffix":""},{"id":445689263,"identity":"cfbbfbc8-59e9-4711-931a-2ad9b70a10c2","order_by":4,"name":"Wolfgang Broll","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ilmenau University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wolfgang","middleName":"","lastName":"Broll","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-01 16:08:13","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6354819/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6354819/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-025-03934-5","type":"published","date":"2025-06-02T15:57:02+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":84242378,"identity":"fdea49a9-b253-479d-b8e4-6ff0b635814c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-06-09 16:07:10","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1622516,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"TVC1stAprilEvaluatingBehavioralRealisminARandVRAComparisonofSinglePointIKandFullBodyMotionCaptureAvatars6.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6354819/v1_covered_638f1740-269a-43d9-84ed-5b1aa66db691.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Evaluating Behavioral Realism in AR and VR: A Comparison of Single-Point IK and Full-Body Motion Capture Virtual Humans","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"the-visual-computer","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"tvcj","sideBox":"Learn more about [The Visual Computer](http://link.springer.com/journal/371)","snPcode":"371","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/371/3","title":"The Visual Computer","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Virtual reality, Augmented Reality, Avatars, Behavioral Realism","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6354819/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6354819/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Behavioral realism plays a crucial role in virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). 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