Animated characters in bullying intervention

Abstract

The VICTEC (Virtual ICT with Empathic Characters) project explores the use of animated characters in virtual environments for educational issues, such as bullying behaviour. 76 participants evaluated a prototype of the VICTEC demonstrator. Results revealed high story believability with character conversation rated as convincing and interesting whilst character movement was poorly rated. The results imply that poor physical aspects of characters do not have detrimental effects on story believability and interest levels.