On the Potential of an Independent Avatar to Augment Metaverse User Socialization Time

We present a computational modelling approach which targets at capturing the specifics on how to virtually augment a Metaverse user's available social time capacity via using an independent and autonomous version of her digital representation in the Metaverse. We envision a Metaverse-focused extension of the traditional avatar concept: An avatar can be as well programmed to operate independently when its user is not controlling it directly, thus turning it into an agent-based digital human representation. This way, the user can virtually delegate on the avatar socializing time required for maintaining the existing contacts, so as to eventually maintain spare non-avatar-mediated socializing time which can be potentially invested in additional socialization activities. We model the setting and identify the characteristic variables via using selected concepts from social sciences: ego networks, social presence, and social cues. Then, we formulate the problem of maximizing the user's non-avatar-mediated spare time as a linear optimization. Finally, we analyze the feasible region of the problem and we present some initial insights on the spare time that can be achieved for different parameter values of the avatar-mediated interactions.