The thesis aims to explore the opinions and perceptions of Finnish news consumers on the presentation and use of the virtual news anchor. Presentation refers to how virtual news anchors appear, interact, and in what environment.
Background
This chapter begins by discussing the background and motivation for the study of virtual news anchors in the context of news distribution. First, the new demands and forms of news distribution are discussed, followed by a presentation of the concept of virtual news anchors and virtual characters in media.
Research Objectives
The virtual news anchors have the ability to provide experiences that traditional news outlets cannot. The presentation of the virtual characters has been explored in the field of human-technology interaction in contexts such as e-commerce, education and e-health.
Research Approach and Contribution
Therefore, the study investigates the initial possibilities of how the virtual news anchors can be introduced to the Finnish news consumers, and the initial reactions, expectations, perceptions and ideas of the news consumers towards such technology. Based on the findings, it is possible to create more elaborate concepts and prototypes of the virtual news anchors that the news consumers and news media organizations can understand and further evaluate.
Thesis Outline
It is important to be aware of the characteristics and practices of news distribution and news consumption habits in Finland because they create a context for exploring the concept of virtual news anchors with Finnish news users. First, the chapter reviews the attributes and practices of news distribution and news consumption in Finland in order to understand aspects of the context in which virtual news anchors would emerge.
News Distribution Attributes and Practices in Finland
When exploring the possibility of introducing the concept of virtual news anchors to the Finnish news market, it is essential to be aware of the market in general and consumers' news consumption habits. In addition, news anchors in Finland are relatively homogeneous and news broadcasts lack diversity.
News Consumption in Finland
The virtual news anchors could be suitable for social media because virtual characters are already becoming more popular, for example on Instagram, Youtube and TikTok. New forms of storytelling, immersive journalism, news games, and virtual news anchors could make more use of the video format, and some consumers could be open to such innovations when they already consume video content regularly.
Immersive Journalism
According to Jones (2017), immersive journalism can be a stimulating way to disseminate news events to news consumers. Similarly, virtual news anchors would require some technological advancement to deliver compelling and compelling news stories; so it might be more reasonable to consider virtual news anchors for more general discussions.
News games
Similarly, virtual news anchors could offer added value to news consumers instead of copying current news broadcasts. Virtual news anchors could enhance news games with more realistic and immersive experiences where a virtual character narrates a story.
Definitions of Embodied Agents and Avatars
Virtual characters can be embodied agents or avatars, depending on their source of control. The final chapter looks at the use of virtual characters in social media, entertainment and fashion, followed by earlier experiments on virtual news anchors.
Presentation of Virtual Characters
- Appearance
- Age, Ethnicity and Gender
- Verbal Interaction and Voice
- Non-Verbal Interaction
- Communication Environment
Previous research suggests that people prefer an agent of a certain age (ter Stal et al., 2020). The facial expressions of the virtual character can be determined by how people express emotions (Beer et al., 2015).
Virtual Characters in Media
Virtual Characters on Social Media, Entertainment, and Fashion
The communication environment refers to the environment where the virtual news anchor is located and where the communication takes place. 2018) suggest that the virtual environment can influence the perception of the virtual character and its perceived credibility and usefulness. The virtual influencers seem to look perfect, which is controversial in terms of diversity and beauty standards (Tiffany, 2019).
Although the representations were digitized versions of real people, they still advocated diversity in the virtual environment.
Previous experiments of Virtual news anchors
The virtual news anchors were created using artificial intelligence to synthesize the voices, movements and appearances of real news anchors. Virtual Chinese news anchors are virtually replicas of real news anchors, automatically generating news content. Consumers will inevitably compare virtual news anchors with real ones, which may result in a lack of acceptance of such technology.
Therefore, it is easy to believe that the virtual news anchors were propaganda, or that they had hidden motives.
Visual Presentations
The presentation's tone was monotone and did not show emotion, and the presentation did not greet the audience. The presentation's tone was relatively cheerful, and she smiled and expressed emotions with her face. The voice of the presentation was a human male voice that matched the presentation's perceived age.
The tone of the voice was cheerful and the presentation showed some emotion with smiles, nods and greetings.
News Story
The next subsection describes the process of selecting the news story and shows the story used in the presentations.
FaceRig Software for Visual Simulations
First, the selection of the pre-made virtual characters was limited and the humanoid characters mostly had white skin. In addition, another limitation was that the appearance of the pre-made virtual characters could not be changed. Second, the facial expressions and lip syncing of the virtual characters were not fleshed out and the characters were not of high quality graphics, which became especially apparent when the characters represented humans.
The movement of the pre-generated virtual characters was limited to facial expressions and head nodding, and only the torso of the character was displayed.
Focus Group Interviews
First, the method of focus group interviews is presented, including the description of the procedure and the pilot interview. The group dynamics worked well, and the participants were willing to express their opinions and perceptions. The nature of the study did not require exceptional practices for the participants' health or safety.
The study material was treated and reported anonymously and the participants were not identifiable in the reporting.
Participants and Recruitment
Verbal consent for recording was required from participants at the beginning of the session. All participants were aware of their rights before the actual interviews began, and verbal consent was required for participation and recording. Four participants were male, four participants were female, and one participant selected “other” as their gender.
All the participants were from different age groups, as one was 31-40 years old, the second was 51-60 years old and the third participant was 61-70 years old.
Data-Driven Content Analysis
Three participants were between 21 to 30 years old, four participants were between 31 to 40 years old, one participant was between the ages of 51 to 60, and one participant was between 61 to 70 years old. The first focus group consisted of two men and one woman, two of whom were between 21–30 years old and one in the 31–40 age group. In addition, the themes included topics related to adapting the virtual news anchor presentation and other ideas regarding the character.
In the following chapter 6, the findings are presented according to themes and main categories.
Virtual News Anchor’s Presentation
- Appearance of Virtual News Anchors
- Age, Ethnicity and Gender of Virtual News Anchors
- Verbal Interaction and Voice of Virtual News Anchors
- Non-Verbal Interaction of Virtual News Anchors
- Communication Environment of Virtual News Anchors
- Customisation of Virtual News Anchor Presentation and Other Ideas
Some participants thought that the virtual news anchors could be young and therefore more recognizable to the younger consumers. The participants emphasized the importance of matching the voice of the virtual newsreader with his appearance. The findings suggest that the communication environment of virtual news anchors can be immersive and non-traditional.
A virtual newscaster who is and moves around the scene could make the news more authentic.
Summary of the Main Findings
This master's thesis study explored the opinions and perceptions of Finnish news consumers on the presentation and use of the virtual news anchor. In this chapter, the main findings are further discussed with the previous research discussed in chapters 2 and 3. Second, the findings are discussed in depth in the subsection on the introduction of the virtual news anchor, followed by the subsection on usage.
Thoughts on the Virtual News Anchor’s Presentation
The findings suggest that the facial expressions of virtual news presenters should be neutral, but animated and lively. Virtual news anchors could be a journalist-driven experience, rather than a virtualized copy of traditional newscasts. With an experiential approach, virtual news anchors could discuss more general topics of discussion.
Virtual news anchors can bring added value to news consumers with stimulating experiences and additional information. It was also proposed that virtual news anchors could be a potential service for hearing impaired people. Virtual news anchors can be another way to engage news consumers with innovative technology.
Thoughts on the Use of Virtual News Anchors
Summary
The study suggested that the concept of virtual news anchors need not mimic traditional news broadcasts, but instead provide news consumers with a complementary service focused on distributing personalized content and relevant news topics through stimulating and interactive experiences. The virtual news anchors were associated with human news anchors in that appropriate dress, neutral and professional verbal and non-verbal interaction, and mature age were expected of the virtual characters. The virtual news anchors could promote diversity in news distribution by presenting virtual characters from different groups of people and ethnicities.
The findings corresponded to the aim of the study with suggestions about the opinions and perceptions of Finnish news consumers, giving an initial idea of how the concept of virtual news anchors could be implemented in Finland.
Study Limitations and Future Work
In fact, study participants seemed to prefer cartoonish and animal-like characters, which may have been due in part to the realistic presentations that fell into the Uncanny Valley. Such errors may have influenced participants' opinions and perceptions of the virtual characters' non-verbal interaction. The virtual news anchors should also be evaluated with media companies to investigate whether there is interest in the concept and the possibilities of implementing it.
Finally, future research will be needed to investigate how the virtual news anchors are technologically feasible while being cost and time efficient.
Reflection on the Learning Experience
Fake online influencers a danger to children, campaigners say. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/nov/04/fake-online-influencers-a-danger-to-children-say-campaigners. Guidelines for journalists and an appendix [website]. https://www.jsn.fi/en/guidelines_for_journalists/. What is beautiful is good. https://ig.ft.com/trump-china-tariffs/. Intermediaries: Reflections on Virtual Humans, Gender and the Uncanny Valley.
Why Al Jazeera launched its first news game. https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/why-al-jazeera-has-launched-its-first-news-game/s2/a562575/. Fake online influencers a danger to children, activists say [image]. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/nov/04/fake-online-influencers-a-danger-to-children-say-campaigners. ed.), Emerging research and trends in gamification. The influence of the avatar on online perceptions of anthropomorphism, androgyny, believability, homophilia and attraction.