Rumo a avatares inclusivos: um estudo sobre a autorrepresentação de grupos vulneráveis em ambientes virtuais

Avatars, digital representations of users in virtual environments, play a central role online, particularly in the emerging context of the Metaverse. Avatar customization allows individuals to create personalized representations, but self-representation is sensitive to multiple factors, including identity, self-expression, and context. Previous research has focused on investigating how avatars should be conceived and customized, taking into account the context of specific activities. However, until now, the number of studies covering the creation and customization of avatars across a wide range of activity contexts has been scarce. In particular, there is a significant lack of research exploring the promotion of inclusive avatar representation in virtual environments. The overall goal of this research is to investigate and analyze factors that influence the self-representation decisions of vulnerable groups in virtual environments through avatars, with a special focus on evaluating strategies aimed at promoting the inclusive self-representation of these avatars. This includes considering the inherent complexity of the context and the user's identity self-expression during their online activities.