TY - JOUR
T1 - Voice of artifacts
T2 - Evaluating user preferences for artifact voice in VR museums
AU - Chen, Bingqing
AU - Chu, Wenqi
AU - Yang, Xubo
AU - Li, Yue
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
PY - 2025/12
Y1 - 2025/12
N2 - Voice is a powerful medium for conveying personality, emotion, and social presence, yet its role in cultural contexts such as virtual museums remains underexplored. While prior research in virtual reality (VR) has focused on ambient soundscapes or system-driven narration, little is known about what kinds of artifact voices users actually prefer, or if customized voices influence their experience. In this study, we designed a virtual museum and examined user perceptions of three types of voices for artifact chatbots, including a neutral synthetic voice (default), a socially relatable voice (familiar), and a user-customized voice with adjustable elements (customized). Through a within-subjects experiment, we measured user experience with established scales and a semi-structured interview. Results showed a strong user preference for the customized voice, which significantly outperformed the other two conditions. These findings suggest that users not only expect artifacts to speak, but also prefer to have control over the voices, which can enhance their experience and engagement. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the importance of voice customization in virtual museums and lay the groundwork for future design of interactive, user-centered sound and vocal experiences in VR environments.
AB - Voice is a powerful medium for conveying personality, emotion, and social presence, yet its role in cultural contexts such as virtual museums remains underexplored. While prior research in virtual reality (VR) has focused on ambient soundscapes or system-driven narration, little is known about what kinds of artifact voices users actually prefer, or if customized voices influence their experience. In this study, we designed a virtual museum and examined user perceptions of three types of voices for artifact chatbots, including a neutral synthetic voice (default), a socially relatable voice (familiar), and a user-customized voice with adjustable elements (customized). Through a within-subjects experiment, we measured user experience with established scales and a semi-structured interview. Results showed a strong user preference for the customized voice, which significantly outperformed the other two conditions. These findings suggest that users not only expect artifacts to speak, but also prefer to have control over the voices, which can enhance their experience and engagement. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the importance of voice customization in virtual museums and lay the groundwork for future design of interactive, user-centered sound and vocal experiences in VR environments.
KW - Interactive vocal experiences
KW - Museum chatbots
KW - Text-to-Speech Models (TTS)
KW - User preferences
KW - Virtual museum
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105023839045
U2 - 10.1016/j.cag.2025.104473
DO - 10.1016/j.cag.2025.104473
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105023839045
SN - 0097-8493
VL - 133
JO - Computers and Graphics
JF - Computers and Graphics
M1 - 104473
ER -