Humans in (Digital) Space: Representing Humans in Virtual Environments

Technology continues to pervade social and organizational life (e.g., immersive, and artificial intelligence) and our environments become increasingly virtual. In this context we examine the challenges of creating believable virtual human experiences— photo-realistic digital imitations of ourselves that can act as proxies capable of navigating complex virtual environments while demonstrating autonomous behavior. We first develop a framework for discussion, then use that to explore the state-of-the-art in the context of human-like experience, autonomous behavior, and expansive environments. Last, we consider the key research challenges that emerge from review as a call to action.