VTuberのアバター動作と技術的制約

指標性を通じたアイデンティティの構成と拡張

抄録

This paper explores the process by which VTubers establish their identities through mutual communication centered on avatar movements. As entities possessing both fictionality and reality, VTubers construct their identities through mutual interaction with viewers. To analyze this, this paper organizes the concept of "indexicality" from semiotics and discussions on identity construction from sociolinguistics. Furthermore, by drawing on gesture theory's formation of meaning through gestures, it positions avatar movements as visual indexical acts possessing meaning equivalent to spoken language. Then, through micro-level case analysis, it analyzes the indexical function of avatar movements and discusses practical identity construction. Furthermore, by examining how the technical constraints of VTubers' avatars affect their movements and indexicality, we verify how technological transformation extends identity and the body.