Avatar Interview
UniTrento – Sociologia
Researchers
Project TypeA qualitative interview platform based on LLMs (Large Language Models), integrated into VR
ScopeQualitative research, data collection, social experimentation
An innovative platform that replaces the human interviewer with an intelligent avatar, delivering immersive and customizable qualitative interviews. It generates high-quality data within a traceable and optimizable system.
Design a platform that combines methodological consistency, personalization, and scalability, while preserving the human aspect and enhancing traditional qualitative interviews.
A data-driven system integrated within immersive VR environments, but also accessible from standard devices. Participants interact with a virtual interviewer avatar in a 3D scenario, receiving questions in real time.
The project
Qualitative and statistical research often faces inherent limitations, such as difficulty replicating experiences, unintentional interviewer influence, lack of standardized contexts, and challenges in engaging large, diverse samples. Avatar-Interview addresses these issues: an intelligent platform that standardizes without oversimplifying.
Researchers can customize the avatar to suit their target audience—adjusting gender, age, voice tone, attire, formality level, and even emotional approach. This makes the platform adaptive and modular, suitable for both exploratory studies and structured testing, across academic, corporate, and educational settings.
Its scalability allows large volumes of interviews to be conducted while maintaining consistent methodological parameters, opening the door to new data-driven qualitative research models that combine interpretative depth with replicable rigor.
Inside the experience
When a session begins, participants enter an immersive environment and are greeted by a realistic avatar. They can respond vocally in natural language while the avatar guides the conversation according to a dynamic script. Researchers can choose to let the AI operate autonomously or guide the session with preset questions.
Interviews can take place in neutral settings, such as a studio, or in specific contexts, such as a living room, meeting room, or public space. Certain objects are interactive, enabling observation of behavioral and cognitive reactions in semi-structured scenarios. At the end of the session, all data is stored and made available for analysis.
About the design
Avatar-Interview’s design balances realism and accessibility. The interface ensures a smooth experience with expressive, responsive avatars, carefully designed environments, and a professional yet intuitive user experience. Participants navigate a coherent digital space, free from distractions and optimized for dialogue.
The system is cross-platform: fully immersive on VR headsets, yet equally accessible from PCs, tablets, or laptops. This versatility makes Avatar-Interview a transformative tool, ready to revolutionize qualitative research—from data collection to analytical output—across multiple fields, including psychology, marketing, training, and education.