Wednesday, May 07, 2025

The Metaverse is changing consumer engagement forever, according to new study

Metaverse platforms, like Roblox and ZEPETO, are redefining how brands connect with consumers, blurring the lines between physical and digital identities, according to a new study from the University of Surrey

University of Surrey

The paper, published in Interactive Marketing, details the emergence of digital doppelgängers – virtual representations of individuals – that can significantly enhance brand engagement, creating immersive experiences that resonate with the consumer on an emotional level.

Digital doppelgängers are more advanced than traditional avatars, using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies to provide a more immersive and interactive experience. Unlike simple 2D avatars, digital doppelgängers are 3D representations that allow users to engage in various activities, interact with brands, and experience emotions similar to those in the physical world.

 The research, which gathered 475 responses through an online questionnaire, explored the relationship between digital doppelgängers and consumer brand engagement. Participants were assessed on their experiences within popular metaverse platforms, such as Roblox and ZEPETO, shedding light on how these interactions influence emotional responses like enjoyment, relaxation, and reputation.

Enjoyment, relaxation, and reputation were identified as critical factors in the relationship between digital doppelgängers and consumer brand engagement. These emotional responses contribute positively to consumer engagement with brands in the metaverse, suggesting that brands need to focus on creating enjoyable and relaxing experiences for users.

Dr Jashim Khan, Associate Professor of Marketing and lead author of the study at the University of Surrey, said:

“The Metaverse in reshaping consumer interactions with brands. Our findings indicate that when consumers are in these digital worlds, using their digital doppelgängers, they aren't just interacting with avatars – they're experiencing a profound sense of embodiment that heightens their emotional connection to brands.

“Brands must adapt to this new digital frontier by creating engaging, interactive experiences that leverage the unique capabilities of the metaverse. This means offering consumers opportunities for enjoyment and relaxation, while simultaneously enhancing their reputation within these digital communities.”

The research team suggest that brands invest in immersive technologies that allow for more authentic interactions. By creating environments where consumers can explore and express their identities through their digital doppelgängers, brands can cultivate lasting loyalty and connection. 

[ENDS] 

Notes to editors

Dr Jashim Khan is available for interview, please contact mediarel ations@surrey.ac.uk to arrange.

The full paper is available in Interactive Marketing

Journal

Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing

DOI

10.1108/jrim-07-2024-0344/full/html

Method of Research

Observational study

Article Title

Digital doppelgänger: navigating consumer brand engagement in the metaverse

Article Publication Date

5-Mar-2025

Don’t mess with mama spider! Parental care helps invasive spiders thwart their parasites

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

SDE BOKER, Israel, May 7, 2025 – Parental care might help invasive brown widow spiders spread. Valeria Arabesky and colleagues at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev found that invasive brown widow spiders effectively defend their egg sacs against wasp parasites. The spiders use multiple defence strategies, including guarding behaviors and constructing their egg sacs with denser spikes when wasps are around. These strategies may benefit the invasive species and protect the spiders against high levels of predation and parasitism.

The study was just published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

A major question as species increasingly spread around the world is what enables these species to survive and thrive in new locations. One important factor could be parental care, or how parents protect and help their offspring survive.

"For creatures that start their life as eggs, such as spiders, parental protection can be crucial. The eggs themselves are defenceless and very attractive to parasites and predators, thus their parents are their only hope for survival,” explained Valeria Arabesky, the first author of the study.

The brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus, is an urban invasive species that generally lives under garbage cans, in fences, and around buildings. This study compared behaviors of the invasive brown widow spider and a native, the white widow spider, common in desert and semi-arid habitats in the Middle East. Both spider species became agitated when tiny parasitic wasps, Philolema latrodecti, approached the spider webs that contained the spiders’ egg sacs, eggs wrapped in silk cocoons. The brown widow spider tapped her egg sacs and circled it protectively with her legs, while the white widow spider shook her whole body and the web to dislodge the wasp. Moreover, the brown widow captured and killed wasps, something that the white widow spider never did. Brown widows even captured wasps and threw them out of the web without feeding on them. Overall, the invasive brown widow spider’s behaviors were more effective in preventing attacks by wasps.

Brown widow spiders also cover their silken egg sacs with silk spikes, something that the native species doesn’t do. When researchers removed spikes from half of the brown widow’s egg sac and introduced the parasitic wasps, they found that the wasps preferred the smoothed side for laying eggs. That suggests that spikes really do work as a defense. Brown widow mothers even increased the density of spikes on egg sacs after being around wasps, which suggests that spiders increase defences when a threat is detected. These extra defenses, guarding and protecting the egg sacs, may help brown widows avoid having their offspring attacked by wasps.

Researchers should continue to find out whether parental care may increase invasion success in other species.

Additional researchers included Dr. Alfred Daniel from Tennessee State University, and Tamir Rozenberg, Prof. Yael Lubin, Prof. Michal Segoli from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and Dr. Monica Mowery from the City University of New York, York College.

Funding was provided by a Binational Science Foundation grant to Prof. Segoli, Prof. Lubin, and Dr. Mowery and a Zuckerman STEM Postdoctoral fellowship to Dr. Mowery.

Journal

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2024.2735

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Maternal care thwarts parasitoids in the invasive brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus)

Article Publication Date

7-May-2025

Pioneering research reveals tree-mendous potential of inexpensive drones to help community forests flourish and unlock restoration funding

University of Bristol

Restoring forests at a community level can contribute significantly to helping reach global net zero and biodiversity goals. Accessing carbon and nature payments often requires robust measurements to quantify restoration’s positive impact, but these can be beyond the capacity of community organisations.

New research, led by the University of Bristol, could provide an answer to this challenge. Its findings show how small, inexpensive drones combined with free, open source software can be used by community forest organisations to calculate and monitor the amount of carbon stored in their forests.

The study results, published in PLOS One, demonstrate that carbon measurements gathered in this way are sufficiently accurate for establishing ongoing restoration monitoring, whilst being much simpler and cheaper than alternative methods, such as satellites and field-based surveys.

Lead author Dr Ben Newport, Honorary Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol’s Cabot Institute for the Environment, said: “Our findings are exciting because they outline a clear and cost-effective workflow for upscaling accurate, transparent forest carbon monitoring from small field plots to tens of hectares – a scale that aligns well with community forests.

“This could potentially enable community forest groups around the world to engage with restoration funding schemes that would otherwise be beyond their technical capacities and, importantly, democratises data collection and ownership.”

The international research team, including scientists from Cardiff University and the Danau Girang Field Centre in Malaysia, used a single lightweight, consumer-grade drone to take around 600 images of a community forest restoration site in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, covering 2 hectares of selectively logged peat swamp forest.

These images were processed using a technique called Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry, which produces 3D point clouds from sets of overlapping 2D images, allowing the forest canopy height to be calculated. From this the tree biomass was calculated using “allometric” equations and converted into the aboveground carbon currently stored within the restoration site.

The results showed that the drone-based carbon calculations were comparable in accuracy to those derived from field-based measurements.

Dr Newport added: “Importantly, these measurements were produced using only a single drone and data collection took just one afternoon. However, care needs to be taken to select appropriate, regionally calibrated allometric equations to ensure the most accurate results.”

There are tens of thousands of community-scale forest restoration projects globally and evidence suggests that these initiatives are more likely to endure than larger scale reforestation schemes.

“The drone we used can be bought for under £300 second-hand, making this a relatively accessible method for community groups who might have limited funds, especially when considering its repeatability,” Dr Newport explained.

“In addition to carbon measurements, communities across Borneo have also used these drones to document illegal mining occurring in their forests, support land tenure claims, and collect imagery to promote ecotourism businesses, so a drone can be an incredibly useful investment.

“But there are potential barriers to using a drone such as permit applications, training, and local opposition to drone flights that mustn’t be overlooked, both for this method and other uses.

“In Borneo, local NGOs and research institutes can provide help and assistance in some cases, but there needs to be awareness that technology may not be so ‘accessible’ for different groups and in different locations.”

Study co-author Professor Joanna House, Professor in Environmental Science and Policy at the University of Bristol, added: “The findings are very encouraging because restoring forests at a community level can significantly boost carbon storage and biodiversity gain, particularly when it empowers indigenous and rural communities through inclusion in forest monitoring and management. Experience has shown time and again that community involvement is critical to successful and ethical climate mitigation”.

The research publication follows the recent Government announcement that three new national forests will be created to help meet a legally-binding target of achieving 16.5% woodland cover in England by 2050. The first, called The Western Forest, will be made up of new and existing woodlands across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, the Cotswolds and the Mendips as well as in urban areas such as Bristol, Swindon and Gloucester. In addition to enhancing existing woodlands, 20 million trees will be planted to drive forward net zero goals, promote economic growth, and help slow the decline of wildlife species.

Dr Newport, who is also a Land & Habitat Officer for the charity Avon Needs Trees and works to restore woodland and biodiversity across the Avon catchment, said: “It will be interesting to see how these methods can be adapted to involve landowners and stakeholders in the monitoring of forest restoration across the West of England.

“There is huge potential for the inclusion of citizen science in these projects. I’m also very excited to see how the methods outlined in our paper might allow communities in other locations, where funding is more limited, to also better monitor and protect their forests.”

Aerial image, taken by the drone, of the Kaboi Lake restoration site in Sabah, Malaysia, studied for the research.

Aerial image, taken by the drone, of the Kaboi Lake restoration site in Sabah, Malaysia, studied for the research.

Aerial image, taken by the drone, of the Kaboi Lake restoration site in Sabah, Malaysia, studied for the research.

Credit

Ben Newport

Journal

PLOS One

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

‘Simplifying drone-based aboveground carbon density measurements to support community forestry’

Rare hunting dogs’ unique noses may offer clue to cause of cleft lip and palate in humans

KTH, Royal Institute of Technology

It’s not entirely understood why some children are born with orofacial clefts, such as cleft lip or palate. But a new study suggests a genetic clue may be found in a rare breed of hunting dog.

An international research team reports that it identified the genetic origins of the forked nose that distinguishes Turkish Pointers – or Catalburun – a breed that have been prized for their supposed superior sense of smell. Publishing in the scientific journal Genome Research, the researchers traced the dogs’ forked, or bifid, nose to a mutation of the gene PDFGRA.

Peter Savolainen, a canine genealogy authority at Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology, says the study raises the possibility that there may be a connection between the mutation of PDFGRA and cases of human orofacial clefts.

One indication is in the role PDFGRA was previously found to play in embryonic development of mice. PDFGRA is essential for connecting the halves of the mouth and nose during embryonic development, the study stated.

“This indicates that the gene might be involved in some cases of human orofacial clefts,” Savolainen says. “While there are several genetic and environmental reasons behind orofacial clefts in humans, this study offers a clue to another factor.”

A mutated variant of PDFGRA was also found to be behind unexpected forked-nose deformities in other breeds of dog. The researchers also found two mutations in another gene, LCORL, which code for large breeds and small breeds, respectively.

The work was a collaboration between KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute; University of Ankara; Afyon Kocatepe University and University of Selcuk in Turkey; Utrecht University in the Netherlands; University of Helsinki and Folkhälsan Research Center in Finland; Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; and Embark Veterinary in Boston, Massachusetts.

Savolainen says the research demonstrates how studying the smaller gene pool of bred dogs provides valuable genomic insights for medical science. “Studying the very inbred dog breeds is an excellent tool for finding the genetic reason for many morphologic traits and diseases in humans,” he says.

“In humans there is just too much genetic variation, making it hard to identify exactly which genetic mutation causes a specific disease,” he says.

A mixed breed dog with a forked nose.

An international research team reports that it identified the genetic origins of the forked nose that distinguishes Turkish Pointers – or Catalburun – a breed that have been prized for their supposed superior sense of smell. Pictured, a mixed breed dog with a bifid nose (left) and a Turkish pointer (right).

Credit

Reuben M. Buckley, et al

Journal

Genome Research

DOI

10.1101/gr.280092.124

Article Title

Analysis of canine gene constraint identifies new variants for orofacial clefts and stature

Professor Xu Zhangrun receives Human Rights Award

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) honors Chinese legal scholar

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Xu Zhangrun, formerly a professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, is this year’s recipient of the Human Rights Award from Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). The award has been presented every two years since 2022 to international researchers who have made significant contributions to human rights. For many years, Xu Zhangrun has advocated for democracy, academic freedom, and freedom of expression in his scholarly work, and has opposed autocratic injustice in China. FAU Vice President Prof. Dr. Andreas Hirsch symbolically placed the award on the empty chair of the laureate, who lives under strict surveillance in Beijing and is not allowed to leave the country.

“Throughout his academic career, Professor Xu has taught and researched aspects of constitutional law and constitutionalism, human rights and the rule of law, as well as Chinese and Western intellectual history,” praised Prof. Dr. Eva Pils, the laudator, Humboldt Professor, and board member of the Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (CHREN) at FAU. “His works are characterized by a distinctive literary style that draws on historical comparisons and does not shy away from robust and direct political criticism of the system and individual leaders. For this, he has received much admiration.” He has been a role model for other scholars and students in China and beyond, she continued. “His publications in recent years, especially since 2018, have led to massive persecution precisely because they had a significant impact on public discourse in Chinese society up to that point,” Pils noted.

Prof. Dr. Heiner Bielefeldt, Senior Professor for Human Rights at the Institute of Political Science at FAU and former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, also emphasized the importance of Xu Zhangrun’s work for human rights: “Even as we honor Xu Zhangrun with the Human Rights Award, it is us who are honored to benefit from his work: His courage can be an inspiration for us.”

Prof. Dr. Andreas Hirsch, Vice President People at FAU, symbolically placed the award on the empty chair: Xu Zhangrun lives under house arrest in Beijing and could not personally accept the award. “We would have liked to honor this significant scholar in person and foster academic exchange,” said Hirsch. “I thank Professor Xu for his commitment and place this year’s Human Rights Award on this empty chair in the hope that Professor Xu may soon be able to collect it.”

About the Laureate Xu Zhangrun

Professor Xu Zhangrun, born in 1962, was a professor of legal philosophy and constitutional law at Tsinghua University in Beijing until 2018. In 2002, he received the university’s highest research award.
Xu Zhangrun holds a BA from the Southwestern University of Politics and Law, a Master’s degree from the China University of Political Science and Law, and a PhD in legal philosophy and legal history from the University of Melbourne (awarded in 2000).

After returning from Australia to Beijing, he took a position as an associate professor at Tsinghua University and rose through the ranks, also taking on the leadership of the Tsinghua University Center for Rule of Law and Human Rights Research. He was also a member of the Unirule Institute, a liberal think tank for economics and politics based in Beijing, which was closed in July 2018.

He currently lives on the outskirts of Beijing under strict surveillance, which lacks any legal basis. He is not allowed to leave the city without permission. Although he was officially retired, he receives neither a pension nor social assistance. He was also evicted from his former university residence and is completely isolated due to the intimidation of colleagues and students.

Some of Professor Xu’s recent works are available in translation by Professor Geremie Barmé on the China Heritage website, including his essay “Imminent fears, immediate hopes,” which was published online in 2018, attracted significant attention, and led to increased persecution, as well as his essay “Viral alarm: When fury overcomes fear,” published online in 2020.

His current work, “Against morality and reason: Outlines of a theory of legal injustice,” is currently being translated and published in French by Gallimard, after a Chinese publication project was halted due to censorship.

Paper sensors and smartphone app monitor personal smoke exposure

Washington State University

An inexpensive paper sensor along with a smartphone-based reader developed by a Washington State University-led team can rapidly provide information on a person’s personal smoke exposure during wildfire season.

The sensor can provide valuable information for firefighters and others to clarify just how much harmful pollution they might inhale during smoky conditions. The researchers, including from University of Washington and University of Georgia, report on their work in the journal, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

The paper biosensor uses tiny, flower-like particles of palladium and platinum to detect and amplify the signal from wildfire smoke biomarkers in urine. To make the system field-ready, the team also developed a custom 3D-printed smartphone reader and app, allowing users to rapidly scan and quantify their exposure on-site.

“Our goal is to quickly identify the exposure onsite in real time and report it with a smartphone reader, so agencies can quickly identify the exposure level and location and make decisions for a hazard prevention strategy,” said Annie Du, a research professor in WSU’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering who is leading the project.

With the increasing number and size of wildfires in recent years, researchers would like better information on people’s personal smoke exposure to understand and mitigate its health impacts more effectively. Human exposure to wood smoke is linked to numerous health issues, including respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and lung cancer.

Currently, estimates of a person’s smoke exposure level are not exact. Agencies determine how much smoke a person may be exposed to based on computer models that use regional meteorology, satellite data, air quality sensors in the region, or even personal perceptions of smoke levels. Those methods sometimes miss the big variations in smoke that can happen in a small area. They also don’t get a person’s specific exposure levels to chemicals or how a person might variably metabolize and process pollutants in his or her body.

Furthermore, exposure to pollutants from wildfires could have impacts on people – even if they don’t have a lot of symptoms.

“You’re exposed to smoke when you breathe in the polluted air, but your body changes that to a metabolite and introduces changes to your DNA,” said Du, who is also in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. “That’s why we are focused on early detection -- We want to catch biological changes before clinical symptoms appear.”

There are blood tests to measure smoke exposure, but they’re cumbersome and expensive, requiring that samples be sent to a laboratory for analysis. When fires are in remote areas, getting information on a person’s exposure is even more difficult.

With the test strips, the researchers were able to measure tiny amounts of metabolites from the pollutant benzene. Their biosensor device is low-cost and very sensitive to the signal of the benzene metabolites.

Unlike a COVID test strip, which only determines whether or not a person has COVID, their sensor can quantify the amount of harmful chemicals someone has been exposed to. The 3D-printed sensor can be connected to a smartphone, so that using a phone’s location data, researchers can determine exactly where smoke levels are most hazardous and identify the chemicals present in different neighborhoods.

The researchers have tested the strips in a lab setting. They will now begin testing the strips with firefighters during the wildfire season and comparing them to standard lab tests. While they will initially test with wildland firefighters, they are working with WSU’s Office of Commercialization and plan to adapt and expand the technology to other vulnerable populations in the future. The work was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Journal

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

DOI

10.1021/acsmi.5c02147

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Mesoporous Pd@Pt Nanoparticle Label/Lateral Flow Immunoassay Integrated with a 3D-Printed Smartphone Reader for Detection of Wood Smoke Biomarkers

Article Publication Date

2-May-2025

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Wednesday, May 07, 2025

The Metaverse is changing consumer engagement forever, according to new study

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DOI

Method of Research

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Don’t mess with mama spider! Parental care helps invasive spiders thwart their parasites

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DOI

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Article Publication Date

Pioneering research reveals tree-mendous potential of inexpensive drones to help community forests flourish and unlock restoration funding

Credit

Journal

Subject of Research

Article Title

Rare hunting dogs’ unique noses may offer clue to cause of cleft lip and palate in humans

Credit

Journal

DOI

Article Title

Professor Xu Zhangrun receives Human Rights Award

About the Laureate Xu Zhangrun

Paper sensors and smartphone app monitor personal smoke exposure

Journal

DOI

Method of Research

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Article Publication Date

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