Title: Quasi-Bodies in VR – On the Perception of Embodied Presence in AI-Controlled Avatars
In immersive VR games like Skyrim VR, users now encounter not only self-controlled avatars but also AI-driven figures behaving dialogically, spatially, and responsively. Studies show such agents are perceived not as mere objects, but as socially and bodily present – someone, not just something (Valera et al., 2025; Zhang et al., 2022). Repetto and Riva (2024) note that virtual embodiment emerges less from visual realism or control than from dynamic coupling, emotional reactivity, and intercorporeal cues. AI-controlled avatars thus blur the threshold between tool and agent, interface and alterity.
This contribution proposes the concept of quasi-bodies – digitally embodied entities with apparent intentionality and socially meaningful behavior, yet lacking full subjectivity. The idea draws on Ihde’s quasi-other (1990) and Klevjer’s notion of avatars as prosthetic telepresence (2012). The key question is: How is the perception of AI avatars as “someone” constituted in VR, and to what extent can their presence be understood as quasi-subjective alterity?